MADRID, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- A series of wildfire whose causes have been described as "not normal" by regional authorities have destroyed almost 4,000 hectares of woodland in the region of Galicia, northwest Spain.
Local press reported that a series of up to 20 different fire, some of which began on Monday, have caused 45 inhabitants to be evacuated from their home. Although nobody has been injured, a police car was destroyed close to the town of Pontevedra and a 'level 2' alert has been declared with several villages still threatened by the flames.
Around 400 firefighters are currently combating the fire along with the help of local volunteers and over 70 helicopters and 20 other aircraft. However, their efforts are being hampered by a combination of dry weather and strong wind which is expected to last over the weekend.
The regional government in Galicia has described the situation as "not normal," highlighting that it is unusual for so many fire to start in the same region unless they were set intentionally.
Indeed, an "incendiary artifact" was discovered at one of the sites, while neighbors in the village of Ardo filmed how the hillside across began burning at five separate points virtually at the same time, before destroying 500 hectares of woodland with clear implication that the fire was deliberately started.
Elsewhere, two firefighters had a lucky escape uninjured following the crash of their helicopter as they fought the flames which have so far burned around 7 percent of the surface area on the island of La Palma over the past week.
