A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Wildfires are tearing across Spain, killing several people and scorching nearly 1,500 square miles. From Seville, here's NPR's Miguel Macias.
MIGUEL MACIAS, BYLINE: Last week, Pepe Neyra was sailing off of the coast of Tarifa near the strait of Gibraltar in southern Spain, when he and his friends saw large columns of smoke back inland. At first, they didn't worry much, but then...
PEPE NEYRA: (Through interpreter) We realized this was serious. We could see the orange color of the flames in the distance.
MACIAS: When they got back to the coast, thousands of people were evacuating the area, a very popular vacation spot in the summer season. Neyra decided to stay. The next morning...
NEYRA: (Through interpreter) Planes were refilling with water at a reservoir nearby, but helicopters were refilling straight out of the ocean, flying over us and getting to the fire, which was less than two miles away.
MACIAS: The scene was striking, but far from the worst in recent weeks in Spain. North of Tarifa in the region of Extremadura, firefighter Adrian Pastor was battling flames to try to save the village.
ADRIAN PASTOR: We had to get exposed so much with smoke. I start to feel dizzy. I starting to have headaches. I started feeling so weak, I couldn't even walk.
MACIAS: Pastor had to be taken out of the area by his fellow firefighters. He's back to work now, but he says that the conditions this year prepared the way for disaster.
PASTOR: After a year of heavy rainfall that caused vegetation to grow, followed by an extremely hot July that dried everything out, combined with continuous heatwaves in August.
MACIAS: In other words, the fires were primed to explode and nearly impossible to contain. In fact, two major fires in the Northwest of the country have grown to become the largest on record. Across the nation, nearly 4,000 soldiers have been brought in to help battle the fires as European allies rush in firefighters and equipment to support overwhelmed emergency crews. On Tuesday, after 16 straight days of brutal heat, Spain finally saw temperatures dip, but many of the fires are still burning.
Miguel Macias, NPR News, Seville, Spain.
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