MADRID, Aug 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The European Union has sent two firefighting planes to Spain to help battle raging wildfires, after the country activated the bloc’s disaster assistance mechanism for the first time.
The assistance comes as the country recorded a third wildfire-related death on Thursday morning.
There are concerns the wildfires could continue to spread. Spain’s state weather agency Aemet forecasts that a heatwave will continue until Monday, with temperatures of up to 44C in some areas, as well as moderate winds.
Spain is the fifth European nation to request assistance with fighting wildfires. In Greece, 25,000 acres of land have burned since Tuesday.
Two French Canadair water bomber aircraft arrived in Spain’s north-western Galicia region on Thursday.
“The fight against fires knows no borders,” government representative in the region Pedro Blanco said. “French resources are now in Spain to intensify efforts to extinguish forest fires.”
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told local media that he had not ruled out requesting more firefighters.
A volunteer firefighter died in hospital in the north-western region of León on Thursday, after suffering severe burns.
He became the second volunteer to die as a result of a fire in the region and the third person to die in total. Another man died near the capital, Madrid, last Tuesday.
“We are struck once again by the death of a second volunteer who has lost their life in León,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday. “All our love and support go out to their family and friends during this unbearable time.”
Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes across the country, with 700 told to leave their towns in the south-western province of Caceres on Wednesday. — NNN-AGENCIES
