They Died After Ignoring Shelter-in-Place Orders

Hundreds of firefighters backed by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft struggled on Saturday to contain one of Spain's deadliest wildfires, which has killed at least 12 people. A combination of light winds and high humidity are helping crews, but the sheer size of the fire still poses challenges, said Antonio Sanz, head of Andalusia's emergency services. The fire has scorched some 25 square miles of forest and farmland, about the size of Manhattan, per the AP. Sanz said fire crews carried out controlled burns overnight around the perimeter of the fire, which broke out late Thursday in a semi-arid area near the Sierra de Los Filabres mountains in the province of Almeria, just as Spain was sizzling.

Most of the victims, who are believed to be foreign nationals, died after ignoring shelter-in-place instructions, authorities said. Seven people died while on foot after abandoning their cars. Four of the dead were believed to be British, because the steering wheel of their burned-out car was on the right side, as with British vehicles, regional authorities said. Sanz said Saturday that authorities had completed autopsies and DNA samples were collected to identify them. Authorities proactively evacuated 1,448 people from some 11 areas.

Spain has battled frequent and severe heat waves in recent years, with temperatures often exceeding 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Wind, high temperatures, and little rainfall help small wildfires grow into unchecked blazes. Justice Minister Felix Bolanos on Saturday attributed the ferocity of the Almeira wildfire to a "climate emergency." He said the fire, at its most intense, advanced as fast as 328 feet per minute. In June, Spain experienced several days of record-setting heat, with more than 1,000 excess deaths.

Spain is no stranger to wildfires, with last year's fire season burning more than 971,000 acres, an area twice as large as London, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. Four people died. Spain's deadliest wildfire was in 1979, when 21 people perished in Lloret de Mar, a coastal town about an hour north of Barcelona. In 2017, a wildfire in neighboring Portugal left 66 people dead in Pedrogao Grande, located 120 miles northeast of Lisbon. In that blaze, 47 people died on one road while similarly attempting to flee in their cars. More here.