Terrified locals flee wildfire in Spain amid European drought

This is the moment terrified locals were forced to flee a raging wildfire in Spain, as bone-dry weather and intense heat combined to trigger two new wildfires at the weekend.

People were forced to flee the village of Anon de Moncayo, in Zaragoza province, on Sunday after a fire which began on Saturday and had been contained suddenly reignited and raged out-of-control for hours. Some 2,500 people had to be evacuated from their homes.

By Monday morning, the blaze had been contained once more but there were concerns about a second fire burning hundreds of miles to the south – near Alicante – which is only partly under control. 

Meanwhile two fires were also burning across the border in Portugal – one in Tomar and another in nearby Abrantes – spurred on by one of Europe’s hottest and driest summers on record, that has turned vegetation into kindling and left forested areas vulnerable.

Swathes of the continent have seen all-time temperature records broken, while scientists say this summer is on track to become the driest in 500 years.

in Spain, head of the local Aragon government Javier Lamban said Sunday that the situation was critical in the town of Anon de Moncayo and the priority for the 300 firefighters fighting the blaze was to protect human lives.

The wildfire, which began Saturday, developed a 31-mile perimeter in less than 24 hours, the local forest chief said. It’s estimated burned surface could be up to 8,000 hectares, state news agency EFE reported.

Those who fled took shelter in three different sports centers in nearby towns.

Drought and extremely high temperatures in the Mediterranean country are turning 2022 into the worst year of the century in terms of fires.

So far this year, the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition has registered 43 large wildfires, which are those that have burned at least 500 hectares (1,250 acres). That is four times the amount of the previous year and a record for the last decade.

The European Forest Fire Information System says 248,674 hectares have burned in wildfires so far this year in Spain. That’s almost four times the country’s average of 66,965 hectares since 2006, when records began.

France and Germany – also blighted by drought – have been suffering forest fires, but on Sunday had brought most of them under control. 

Gironde, in the south of France, has been particularly hard-hit by a ‘monster’ fire that has been burning non-stop since July. 

The fire began as temperatures in the region broke all-time records to hit 40C (111F) back in July, before dying out as the heat ebbed away at the end of the month.

But a fresh heatwave last week revived the blaze, with hundreds of firefighters and water-bombing planes from across Europe dispatched to help extinguish it.

A change in the weather on Monday – with thunderstorms predicted – helped fire crews to contain the blaze, but there were fears that gale-force winds due to accompany the rain may fan the flames, rather than extinguish them.

Meanwhile fires in Saxony and Karlsruhe, in Germany, that burned throughout the weekend were largely under control today – with cops in Karlsruhe looking for an arsonist they believe may be to blame for some of the blazes.

Three fires broke out in different places near a student residence near Hardtwald on Friday, which spread to around 8,600 square feet, the police said on Saturday.

Officers – who spent around an hour extinguishing the blaze using a helicopter – are now investigating whether the fires were deliberately set.

Meanwhile a fire in the Harz National Park, Saxony, which had been burning since Thursday last week had been largely extinguished on Monday.

Police in Italy, which has also been blighted by fires, have used a drone to successfully capture an arsonist in the Cutro region in the south of the country.

Shocking footage shows a man – dressed in a brown t-shirt, dark shorts and sandals – casually using what appears to be a barbecue lighter to set fire to grassland, piling dried vegetation on top to ensure it catches light.

After lighting a second patch of grass on fire, he casually strolls away. The man has since been identified and is being sought by police. The fires were quickly extinguished.