Two people have been killed in the worst wildlife fire to hit the Catalonia region in years.
The two farm workers lost their lives in the province of Lleida on Tuesday, officials confirmed today.
The government has branded the blaze a ‘sixth-generation fire’, which is a term used to describe fires so large and erratic that they are essentially beyond human control.
The victims, aged 45 and 34, were a farm owner and an employee who died after becoming trapped by a sudden flare-up near Cosco, roughly 22km from Torrefeta, where the fire ignited.
According to Catalan Interior Minister Nuria Parlon, speaking on Catalunya Radio, the employee had called his boss for help after becoming overwhelmed by smoke.
The farmer rushed to the scene in his 4×4 and managed to reach the man, but the vehicle became stuck.
Both tried to flee on foot but were caught by the flames. Emergency services later found their bodies during a perimeter sweep once the fire had stabilised.
By late Tuesday night, the fire had affected at least 6,500 hectares, though not all had burned. The blaze produced an unprecedented 19km-high pyrocumulus cloud, prompting firefighters to call it ‘unlike anything seen before’ in the region.
‘This fire released in one afternoon the energy that the Vandellos nuclear plant produces in four months,’ said Parlon.
‘We have to understand that these are fires beyond human capacity to extinguish.’
She warned of a very difficult summer ahead, citing the role of climate change in creating dangerously dry and hot conditions.
Fire services, using drones to scan the burned zone, say no further fatalities or livestock losses have been reported.
A volunteer firefighter was injured when part of a farmhouse collapsed on him, while another required treatment after being hit in the eye by a spark.
Catalan President Salvador Illa said on Wednesday that rural agents are investigating the cause of the blaze, which has primarily affected farmland.
Fire crews remain on high alert, focusing on the right flank of the fire, which poses a threat to the Segre Valley and Solsones, areas with dense vegetation and high fire risk.
‘We’re hoping the worst is behind us,’ said regional fire chief Joan Josep Bellostas on Wednesday, ‘but today will be a critical day.’
