A man and a woman who were extinguishing fires have been arrested for starting some of the fires burning in Spain.
Several fires, eight of them very serious, are still active and are particularly affecting Castile and León and Galicia.
BarcelonaHedevastating wave of fires ravaging the Spanish state, fueled by high temperatures and extreme dryness, is a clear consequence of the climate crisis, but in some of the fires, human intervention goes much further still, as it has been confirmed that they were started by fires. In the last few hours, four people have been arrested as the perpetrators of several fires, including a firefighter in Castilla y León who was seeking more work days, and also a 63-year-old woman in Galicia.
The Civil Guard arrested a member of the firefighting team this Tuesday afternoon as the alleged perpetrator of the fire that broke out on July 28, which devastated approximately 2,200 hectares between Cuevas del Valle and Mombeltrán, in southern Ávila. The man confessed to starting the fire and his motivation was allegedly "employment-related," as he "obtained ten days of work after the fire started," according to the police force's statement.
This is not the only arrest made by law enforcement agencies. A woman is also being investigated for allegedly starting up to five forest fires that have broken out in recent days in Muxía, Galicia. Both witnesses and the contradictory account of the 63-year-old woman have led officers to suspect her possible guilt.
A few days ago, another 28-year-old man was arrested while intentionally trying to start a fire in Canibelos, Ourense, and another person was arrested on suspicion of starting another fire in Celanova, in the same province. This last detainee is also accused of being responsible for around twenty more fires.
Evacuations and Injured
It was precisely in southern Galicia and northwestern Castile and León where the majority of fires were still active on Wednesday. In the provinces of Zamora and León, there were still more than 100 active fires on Wednesday, and around 20 more in the northern part of Palencia. Of these, however, eight are particularly serious, affecting eight natural areas and causing the death of a volunteer firefighter in León yesterday, Tuesday. The most serious fires are in Yeres and Flames de Cabrera, in the province of León; Cerdas and Molezuelas de la Carballeda, in the province of Zamora; and Resoba, in the province of Palencia, all at level 2, the maximum established by the protocol. In the province of León, there are more than 4,000 evacuees, and in Zamora, almost 400 people, evacuated from several small towns, are still unable to return home. In other towns, such as Ayoó de Vidriales, residents are confined to their homes to avoid risks.
Another forty fires continued to burn this Wednesday in southern Galicia. Firefighting teams had to work hard early Wednesday morning in Galicia, mainly in Ourense, due to the forest fires that led to the activation of Emergency Situation 2 in this province and forced the evacuation of population centers and the confinement of others. Around twenty residents of Somoza and another twenty in Penapetada, in the municipality of Trives, were evacuated. In this municipality, children and counselors from a summer camp had to spend the night confined to the Manzaneda Mountain Station as a precaution.
The fire also threatened areas in the municipality of Oímbra, where evacuations were also carried out, and the nearby town of Mezquita, where around 50 residents of a senior citizen's home were also evacuated and spent the night in another residence in the province of Ourense.
The Puercas forest fire in the León province of Zamora has left at least six injured, including two men who have been admitted to the ICU with serious burns. They were two evacuated residents traveling in two vehicles during the evacuation, one of which was delayed in leaving and the other turned back as it departed, according to sources from the Government Delegation in Castilla y León.
The largest fire in this province, in Molezuelas de la Carballeda, has already burned 3,500 hectares and required evacuations and the confinement of around fifteen towns. This is where one of the two fatalities in this wave of fires occurred, in this case a worker extinguishing the fire. The other death occurred in the spectacular Tres Cantos fire in Madrid, which has now been declared under control. The victim was one of the horse farm workers, a 50-year-old man who tried to save the animals and suffered burns over 98% of his body and eventually died from the severity of his injuries. About twenty horses also died.
