MADRID (Reuters) -A second volunteer firefighter who suffered severe burns while battling a wildfire in Spain’s northern Leon province has died from his injuries, a government official said on Thursday, as several blazes continued across the country.
“Today we mourn the death of another member of the team fighting fires in Leon,” Nicanor Sen, the national government’s representative in Castile and Leon – Spain’s largest region – wrote in an X post.
Local media identified the victim as 37-year-old Jaime Aparicio, who suffered burns to 85% of his body after being trapped alongside another volunteer between two fronts near the town of Nogarejas, while they attempted to create firebreaks with brush cutters.
His colleague Abel Ramos, 35, died on Tuesday, the sixth fatality linked to wildfires in Spain this year. On Monday, a separate fire killed a man on the outskirts of Madrid.
Nearly two dozen blazes continued to rage in Spain on Thursday, fuelled by wind and extreme heat. Around 9,500 people were evacuated from their towns and hundreds ordered to stay at home.
At least 14 roads were blocked, according to traffic authority DGT, and trains between Madrid and northwestern Galicia remained suspended, railway operator Adif said.
Spain has asked for help from European partners to tackle the fires, requesting two Canadair water-bombing planes.
Fire has affected nearly 440,000 hectares (1,700 squaremiles) in the euro zone so far in 2025, twice the average forthe period since 2006, according to the EU Science Hub’s Joint Research Centre.
Scientists say the climate change exacerbates the risk of wildfires in the Mediterranean region due to hotter and drier conditions.
In Spain, record-breaking rainfall this spring after a prolonged drought accelerated vegetation growth, including undergrowth that becomes highly combustible in a dry summer.
(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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