WildFire burns 1,200 hectares of Spanish island
Pastor Dale Morgan
WildFire burns 1,200 hectares of Spanish island*
MADRID, Sept 12 (AFP) Sep 12, 2006
A wildfire that has destroyed more than 1,200 hectares on El Hierro, the
smallest of Spain's Canary islands, was still burning out of control on
Tuesday, local authorities said.
"We estimate more than 1,200 hectares (2,964 acres) have been burned"
since Sunday, a spokesman for the El Hierro local authorities told AFP.
"Yesterday evening (Monday) the flames spanned an area six kilometres
(four miles) long and two kilometres wide," he said, adding the fire
covered a "significant proportion" of the island, home to 1,000 people.
Around 300 people were battling the fire on Tuesday with the help of
firefighters shipped in from neighbouring islands.
But high temperatures and winds were hampering efforts, the spokesman said.
More than 126,000 hectares of forest have been destroyed by fire in
Spain since January.