100 Fires Blaze

SPN Asturias Fires OnLThe western end of Asturias is being threatened by over 100 different forest fires. The idea that they could be from natural causes is remote, to say the least.

Three-hundred soldiers from the Unidad Movil de Emergency have been drafted in to beef up the civilian fire-fighting units.

Thankfully, there was rainfall during the night which has made the task of the fire fighters easier

The first fires were reported Saturday morning, spread over a wide area of Asturias, although, as said above, the western end is bearing the brunt of it.

Natural causes can not explain how the number of fires jumped from 18 fires in the morning to 111 by midnight. In fact, just between 18.00h and 23.00, 78 new fires were reported.

Without doubt, the constant warm-dry winds from the south over the last week, coupled with the driest autumn in 34 years, have played an important factor.

One thing is for sure, we are certainly not accustomed to hearing of summer-like forest fires at the gates of winter, especially in the normally rain-soaked north.

As the afternoon drew to a close today, 34 of the fires are under control.

(News: Asturias, Spain – Photo: asturiasverde.blogspot.com)

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