A firefighter lost his life today while working to put out one of the many forest fires still raging in the north of Spain. The dead man was a member of the Castilla y León fire brigade and died after being surrounded by flames in a blaze in Molinaferrera (León).

Sixteen fires are still active in the province of Ourense, two of them razing huge areas - up to 1,800 hectares in Manzaneda and 1,000 in Lobios - as temperatures drop slightly, but still remain high for this time of year.

The Department for Rural Affairs reported that the Manzaneda fire, which started Thursday in O Invernadeiro, an area of ​​great environmental value, has not affected the parkland so far.

It is a steep area and the fire has burned continuously for several days. Moreover, another fire was reported yesterday in the nearby town of Paradela.

The Manzaneda fires have spread to the neighbouring municipalities of Chandrexa da Queixa and Vilariño de Conso, affecting 60 acres in the latter.

15 helicopters and nine aircraft have been brought in to support the land-based units fighting the fires.

The second biggest fire is in Lobios, which began on Thursday morning and is still active. This fire came in Portugal, where a huge fire razed several thousand hectares and was blown into various parts of Galicia by the wind.
 
The area is steep and rocky, making it difficult to fight the fire from the ground, so six helicopters and four aeroplanes have been brought in to try to control the blaze, which has already affected over thousand hectares.

Another major forest fire began in Maceda on Sunday and has already burned around 800 acres.

The Dept. for Rural Affairs has reported fires in Baltar (20 hectares), Teixeira (20), Melón (40); Padrenda (20); Esgos (150); Montederramo (200), and another in the town of Maceda (250).

The fire in Ríos is close to being extinguished, but still remains active after burning 200 hectares. The fires in Viana do Bolo (400 hectare), Gudiña (150), Avión (228) and A Peroxa (300) are in a similar situation.

Four fires in the province of Lugo have finally been put out - in Palas de Rei, where 50 hectares were burned; Carballedo (20); Vilalba (250) and Monforte de Lemos (50).

The fire in Viana do Bolo in Ourense, which burned one hundred acres, has also been extinguished.