Dramatic drone footage shared by the Spanish civil guard on Saturday captured hellish scenes as a wildfire tore through the north of the country.
The video footage showed a ravaging wildfire burning the Cinco Villas area of Zaragoza province. Spain’s largest wildfire of the year has so far burned around 16,000 hectares in the northern region and forced the evacuation of more than 1,100 people.
Authorities said the fire, which broke out on Wednesday, remained “quite active” and was “still far from being stabilised” on Saturday afternoon.
Around 450 ground personnel, 11 fire engines, 16 ground crews, six helicopters and two bulldozers were deployed to battle the blaze.
The fire was still active on Saturday afternoon, with officials from Aragon, the affected area in the north-east of Spain, saying that firefighters had slowed its advance on the left flank.
The towns of Orés, Asín, Luesia, Malpica de Arba, and Uncastillo remain evacuated.
On Saturday, Spain’s ministry of defence said emergency workers were working with officials from Aragon to put a stop to the fires. The approximate perimeter of the wildfire was 15,800 hectares as of 5pm on Saturday.
Minister of finance and interior, Roberto Bermúdez de Castro, said: “We can be a little optimistic about how the fire has evolved today.
“The perimeter hasn’t grown and the fire isn’t out of control as it was in previous days, although it’s still far from being stabilised.
“Tonight and tomorrow we will continue working with the same resources, both personnel and aircraft. We have to make a significant effort over these next two days to try to stabilise the situation as quickly as possible.”
Successive early summer heatwaves, which many scientists blame on human-driven climate change, have pushed temperatures to unprecedented levels in large swathes of the continent, causing water shortages, crop damage, wildfires, and thousands more deaths than normal.
Spain has suffered severe heatwaves in recent years, with temperatures exceeding 40C.
Spain’s Guardia Civil said on Saturday that a 31-year-old man had been detained in Zamora and another 32-year-old was being investigated on suspicion of 15 offences of arson and forest fire.
The main concern in the coming hours is the potential for the fire to reignite in the perimeter, as there are some areas that have not yet burned.
Earlier this week, at least 12 people died in a wildfire in southern Spain, with seven Britons among those dead.
The wildfires tore through Spain’s Almería province, where Pete and Fran Gillam lived in the village of Bédar. The couple were killed in the fire, with the family saying they were “heartbroken” to hear the news.
