Helicopters dumped water over burning ridges as smoke billowed across northern Spain, forcing residents to flee and seek refuge in emergency shelters. Survivors reported feeling abandoned by politicians and criticized authorities' handling of the crisis despite praise for Red Cross shelter care. Fires swept across Spain this month, killing four people and ravaging over 350,000 hectares in two weeks, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. Three deaths occurred in Castilla y Leon and large areas around Vigo de Sanabria and the Sanabria lake region were scorched. Evacuees accused officials of negligence, carelessness and underestimating how quickly fires could shift.
As helicopters dump water over burning ridges and smoke billows across the mountains of northern Spain, residents from wildfire-stricken areas say they feel abandoned by the politicians meant to protect them. A blaze "swept through those mountains, across those fresh, green valleys and they didn't stop it?" said Jose Fernandez, 85. He was speaking from an emergency shelter in Benavente where he took refuge after fleeing his nearby village, Vigo de Sanabria.
Blazes that swept across Spain this month have killed four people and ravaged over 350,000 hectares (865,000 acres) over two weeks, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). MAPS: How to check for active wildfires in Spain Three of those deaths were in the region of Castilla y Leon, where Vigo de Sanabria is located, as well as a large part of the land consumed by the fires.
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