Fires in Portugal and Spain
Fires inSpain
18 July 2005
GFMC Summary: At least 11 people died Sunday while trying to extinguish a day-old forest fire that destroyed some 5,000 hectares of woodland and forced hundreds of people to be evacuated from their villages in drought-stricken Spain.
Elsewhere, six people suffered light burns and more than 1,000 hectares of woodland were destroyed in the northwestern province of Zamora on Saturday. The fire was still burning on Sunday.
In the northeastern province of Zaragoza, several hundred people were evacuated from a residential area and a camp site overnight after fire broke out in the Monasterio de Piedra parkland. The blaze was brought under control early Sunday.
In the province of Teruel a forest fire affected 350 hectares so far and is still not under control.
Latest satellite scenes showing fires burning throughout the western Mediterranean region:
AQUA
17 July 2005
13:00 hrs UTC
(Image courtesy MODIS)
Click on scene for a 500m resolution
ECPC Fire Weather Forecast:
Theforecast indicates no extreme fire danger for Central Spain and the Pre-Pyrenees. Thecurrent fire danger, however, is due to unusually high day temperatures. Spain is suffering its worst drought since the 1940s, with some reservoirs in the south at less than 20 percentcapacity.
Fire Weather Forecast for Europe, 19 July 2005
Fire Weather Forecast for the upcoming week
(Source: ECPCFire Weather Index Forecast)
For moredetails on fires in Spain:
- Recent news from the Media
- Statistical database for Spain
