Hundreds of Moroccan firefighters and soldiers fought late Thursday to put out at least four infernos that swept through forests in the north of the kingdom, officials said.
The fires, fanned by strong winds in the four areas, have so far claimed no casualties, but nearly 500 families have been evacuated “as a precaution” in Larache and Taza provinces, officials said.
Several villages that were evacuated also saw military planes dropping quantities of water to put out fires that swept across the arid terrain, an AFP journalist said.
Shocked at how quickly the flames were spreading, residents fled their homes, with some families tending the cattle and horses on which they depend for their livelihoods ahead of them.
“I was with my family and at some point we heard people screaming, ‘Fire! Fire!'” said Samir Boundad from Larache.
“We ran to escape and thank God the fire moved up the mountain.”
A village in the Ksar El Kebir region was destroyed by the flames.
Hundreds of civil defense workers, soldiers and police officers are trying to prevent the fires from causing further destruction.
In four provinces — Larache, Ouezzane, Tetouan and Taza — the fires tore through hard-to-reach forest areas, said Fouad Assali, director of the National Center for Forest Climate Risk Management.
“Efforts continue in the hope of bringing these fires under control,” Assali was quoted as saying by the official MAP news agency.
Since Wednesday night, initial reports said at least 1,000 hectares of forest in Larache and Ouezzane were ablaze, leaving burnt trees smoldering under a cloud-covered sky.
– Intense droughts, rising temperatures –
The North African nation, suffering from intense droughts, has been hit by soaring temperatures of nearly 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in recent days.
“It’s the heat that causes this type of fire. It was at dawn yesterday when the fire reached our village,” Ahmed Mezouar, 58, a Larache resident, told AFP, adding he was confident firefighters could contain it.
Still, he was concerned as a neighboring village was completely surrounded by the flames.
“We are afraid for our homes,” he said. “Right now we’re safe.”
Beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, forest fires are also raging in southern Europe, from Portugal and Spain to France and Greece.
Scientists say extreme weather events like heat waves and droughts that make wildfires more likely are linked to climate change.
It is expected that they will become even more frequent, longer and more intense in the future.
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