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Fires force homeowners out - 31 July 2007

Spain’s Canary Islands have become the latest part of Southern Europe to fall victim to the ravages of forest fires, as a heat wave continues to sweep across a huge swathe of the continent.

Around 9,000 people have been evacuated from their homes on Gran Canaria and Tenerife for their own safety after fires destroyed at least 24,000 hectares across the islands. A forest ranger has been arrested and charged with starting one of the fires, after reportedly telling officers that his contract was about to expire and he wanted to continue working.

More than 100 firefighters were on the scenes battling the blazes, backed up by planes dropping water on the fires from above.

This latest fire comes in the wake of an equally-serious blaze on the Greek mainland on the slopes of Mount Parnitha, just one of a number of fires that broke out across the islands in the last week. The forest fire threatened outlying suburbs of Athens, though was contained before reaching the city or destroying property there.

The fires are a symptom of the heat wave that has baked large parts of southern Europe in the past days and weeks. Temperature in some cities have reached up to 46 degrees C, even causing electricity pylons to explode, which caused some of the fires to break out.

 

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