Spain sends army as wildfires rage
Pastor Dale Morgan
Spain sends army as wildfires rage*
Thursday, August 10, 2006 Posted: 1700 GMT (0100 HKT)
MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Spain will deploy 200 elite army engineers to help
battle scores of forest fires in the country's northwest, the government
said Thursday.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who interrupted his summer
holiday to visit firefighting crews, said they would join around 1,200
troops already backing up local firefighters in an effort to control the
flames, which have raged across the region for the past week.
For days, the air in many parts of western Galicia has hung thick with
acrid smoke, forcing the closure of many tourist locations along a
coastline famous for its picturesque beauty and seafood, local
government spokeswoman Iria Gonzalez said.
Fire has charred around 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of forest and
scrubland, mainly between the port city of Vigo and the regional capital
of Santiago de Compostela, an area known for its fjord-like sea inlets.
Fires that affected the northeastern region of Girona had all been put
out, a local fire department spokeswoman said.
Earlier this week, Spain asked the European Union for help in combating
the blazes. Italy, France and Portugal have committed equipment and
personnel, while Andorra, Morocco, Germany and the Czech Republic have
offered aid.
Forest fires in Spain and other Mediterranean countries char hundreds of
thousands of acres (hectares) of land every year.