ALDEA DEL FRESNO, Spain
Thousands who fled huge wildfires in Spain returned home on Wednesday while in France firefighters battled raging flames as a new heatwave gripped the region. The neighboring countries have been gripped by some of the worst forest fires in living memory over the past week, burning vast areas and forcing tens of thousands from their homes.
Spain lifted remaining evacuation orders for Avila province and for the last two towns near Madrid that had been evacuated on Wednesday. While some evacuees returned to untouched homes, others found only devastation. “I’m happy — I couldn’t wait to come home and have my coffee and breakfast,” said Maria Jesus Perez Blanca, in her seventies.
She was one of about a dozen returnees at the cafes of Aldea del Fresno, west of Madrid on Wednesday morning. But 12 kilometers (eight miles) away in Pelayos de la Presa, David Rodriguez was knocking down the scorched remains of his home. “It’s a disaster. Just look at it,” he said. “All my memories, everything I had was here. My dad built it 40 years ago and everything has been lost.”
Officials said on Wednesday that better overnight conditions had helped crews stabilize the fire area, and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the coming hours would be “decisive” in the battle to extinguish all the remaining flames.
In France, the Gironde region reported a second calm night and said the massive fire west of France’s wine-making capital of Bordeaux remained stable despite a spike in temperatures on Wednesday as the fourth heatwave of the summer roasted the area.
