Hundreds of firefighters backed by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft struggled on Saturday to contain one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires that erupted earlier this week and killed a least 12 people.
The blazes, which also lashed France this week, came as parts of Western Europe are facing their third heat wave in six weeks.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
In Spain’s Andalusia, a combination of light winds and high humidity are helping crews but the sheer size of the fire still poses challenges, Antonio Sanz, head of the region’s emergency services, said.
The fire has so far scorched some 66 square kilometers (25 square miles) of forest and farmland — about the size of Manhattan.
Sanz said fire crews carried out controlled burns overnight around the perimeter of the fire, which broke out late Thursday in a semi-arid area near the Sierre de Los Filabres mountains in in Almería province, just as Spain was sizzling.
Favorable weather conditions were expected into Sunday, which could help firefighting efforts, Spain’s official EFE news agency reported. Justice Minister Félix Bolaños said nearly all homes on the fire front’s perimeter were undamaged.
