Crews in southern Spain face 'complex' wildfire for 5th day

Firefighting crews in southern Spain are looking at the sky for much-needed rainfall they hope can help extinguish a major wildfire that has ravaged 7,700 hectares (19,000 acres) in five days and displaced some 2,600 people from their homes

MADRID -- Firefighting crews in southern Spain are looking at the sky for much-needed rainfall expected on Monday and that they hope can help extinguish a major wildfire that has ravaged 7,700 hectares (19,000 acres) in five days and displaced around 2,600 people from their homes. Authorities are describing the blaze in Sierra Bermeja, a mountain range in the Malaga province, as a sixth-generation fire of the extreme kind brought by the shifting climate on the planet. The "mega fires" are catastrophic events that kill, blacken large areas and are difficult to stop. In Spain, that is paired with an increasing dynamic of rural areas losing population, leading to poorer management of forests and accumulation of burnable material. “We are facing the most complex fire known by the forestry extinction services in recent years,” Juan Sánchez, director of the southern Andalusia region's anti-fire service, told reporters late Sunday.