Numerous people were evacuated after a suspected intentional wildfire hit western Spain

According to authorities, 700 people had to be evacuated from four small towns in western Spain because of a wildfire that has scorched 8,000 hectares (20,000 acres) and been fueled by high winds.

In Las Hurdes, a hilly region west of Madrid, more than 400 firefighters, including 50 soldiers from the Military Emergency Unit, are struggling to put out the fire.

Officials believe the fire, which started on Wednesday night, was deliberately sparked since two other fires appeared to start practically simultaneously.

Guillermo Fernández Vara, the president of Extremadura’s neighboring region, claimed that the perpetrator “knew very well what they were doing” when they started the fire at night to maximize damage and make it more challenging to put out.

Police and government officials in Spain suspect that several wildfires were ignited on purpose. The explanations for this are reported to vary.

The issue, according to Fernández Vara, on Friday was not a lack of equipment to put out the fire, but rather the wind.

He told reporters that the area’s pine trees were practically “cans of gasoline, flame throwers,” and that it was difficult to foresee how the situation would develop with winds gusting to 60 kph (40 mph).

According to government figures, 2022 will be the worst year for fire devastation since 1994 because 267,000 hectares (666,000 acres) of Spain’s land were burned last year. That was three times the previous ten-year national average.

Spain accounted for 35% of all burned area in European wildfires last year, according to the Copernicus satellite observation service of the European Union.

Spain saw its warmest and driest April on record last month, and roughly 30% of the nation is currently in a drought “emergency” or “alert.”