BARCELONA, Spain (AP) \u2014 More than 2,000 people were evacuated as a wildfire rages \u201cout of control\u201d on La Palma in Spain\u2019s Canary Islands on Saturday, destroying around a dozen homes, authorities said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The blaze has affected an area of about 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres) and officials warned residents that the situation could worsen because a heat wave has made the terrain tinder-dry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe fire has spread very fast,\u201d Canary Islands regional president Fernando Clavijo said. \u201cThe fire is out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that some residents didn\u2019t want to abandon their homes, and he appealed for people to be responsible and heed the calls for evacuation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clavijo said that he was very concerned about the possibility of shifting winds at night, saying they could make the evacuation operation more dangerous. He said that 10 aircraft were battling the fire, and that water-dropping planes were expected to arrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wildfire and evacuations come nearly two years after\u00a0a three-month volcanic eruption\u00a0caused devastation on La Palma. While nobody was killed, around 3,000 buildings were buried along with many banana plantations, roads and irrigation systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fire is on the western side of La Palma on wooded, hilly terrain dotted with homes. It\u2019s not an area that was directly impacted by the 2021 volcanic eruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Puntagorda\u2019s mayor, Vicente Rodr\u00edguez, told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE that the fire started inside the limits of his municipality. He added that the area has seen below-average rainfall in recent years, just like large parts of the drought-stricken mainland, because of changing weather patterns impacted by\u00a0climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fire coincides with a\u00a0heat wave that is hitting southern Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spain saw\u00a0record high temperatures\u00a0in 2022 and this spring as it endures a prolonged drought. Authorities and forestry experts are concerned that the conditions are ripe for a\u00a0difficult wildfire campaign\u00a0after\u00a0seeing virulent fires\u00a0as early as March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
La Palma, with a population of 85,000, is one of eight members of Spain\u2019s Canary Islands archipelago off Africa\u2019s western coast. At their nearest point, the islands are 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Morocco.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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