Dilip Kuner
SOME 3,200 people have been evacuated from their homes as a massive wild fire continues to burn in Andalucia.
In total 27 aircraft, 300 forestry firefighters and 157 soldiers from the Military Emergency Unit were still trying to contain the blaze that has affected more than 9,000 hectares of forest in the province of Huelva as dusk fell.
Several villages have been evacuated as a precaution as winds of up to 50kph fanned the flames in the highly flammable eucalyptus and pine forest.
The fire started in the Almonaster La Real area on Thursday.
President of Andalucia juanma Moreno visited the scene this afternoon,
He said that the difficult terrain and strong winds had made the task of controlling the fire ‘complicated’.
“The main objective is to prevent us from losing a human life and all emphasis is being placed on that,” said Moreno.
He added that he was ‘moderately optimistic’ now weather conditions seem to have improved, which could lead to the fire being controlled sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. He ruled out any more evacuations being needed.
The latest evacuations were made in the villages of Valverde del Camino and Calañas (Huelva). They were described as ‘preventative’ rather than because there was imminent danger.
