A new forest fire broke out in the Spanish village of Fermoselle, near the border with Portugal, and due to a serious danger to the population, the authorities evacuated over 600 people. The fire is another large fire in the region of Castile and Leon, which has already been severely affected by large-scale natural disasters, BTA reports.
Evacuations and restrictions due to the spreading fire
The fire broke out yesterday at noon in the area of Fermoselle, province of Zamora. According to emergency services quoted by Agence France-Presse, residents of 11 settlements were evacuated, and a restrictive regime was introduced for two others due to a “serious threat to the population“.
The authorities have not yet announced the area affected by the fire, but several road sections in the area have been closed.
Military assistance has been sent
The fire has been classified as level two, which allows the involvement of additional resources from the central government.
A military unit has been sent to the scene to respond to disasters and accidents. In Spain, the management of forest fires is usually the responsibility of regional authorities due to the highly decentralized structure of the state.
Two more serious fires in the province of Zamora
Two more second-degree fires continue to rage in the same province - in the areas of Val de la Loba and San Cipriano del Condado.
The province of Zamora is part of the autonomous community of Castile and León, which is already among the regions hardest hit by forest fires this summer.
The fire in Ávila remains the largest in Spanish history
A fire is still burning in the neighboring province of Ávila, which has already destroyed around 50,000 hectares of forest and vegetation.
It has been defined as the largest forest fire in Spain's modern history since the country began keeping official fire statistics in 1968.