Spain sends 500 more troops as wildfire death toll rises to four

Spain sends 500 more troops as wildfire death toll rises to four

Event date: 2025-08-18

Spain sent 500 more troops to wildfire-hit regions, bringing the total military deployment to 1,900 as the death toll from the blazes rose to four, according to BBC News. The new fatality was a firefighter who died after a truck went down a steep hill during firefighting work in Castile and León. A separate firefighter died in Portugal in a traffic accident linked to the fires, pushing the regional death toll higher as Europe endured one of the summer's most punishing fire seasons.

The fires were still active across several parts of Spain. The BBC said 27,000 residents were evacuated from their homes, while regions in the northwest and west remained the most affected. Castile and León was described as the hardest-hit area, with local media saying smoke had made the air unbreathable. In neighbouring Portugal, authorities continued to battle blazes that had spread since late July.

Spain's Civil Guard also said it had proposed sanctions against four people for unauthorised burns in Galicia, underscoring how human activity remains part of the fire risk even in a season dominated by extreme heat and dry conditions. The BBC report said causing a wildfire is a criminal offence in Spain, even if it is accidental, which shows how seriously authorities view the issue.

The scale of the disaster was clear in the burned acreage. The European Forest Fire Information System estimated that about 343,000 hectares had burned in Spain this year alone, nearly twice the amount recorded the previous year. In Portugal, EFFIS put the 2025 wildfire total at around 216,000 hectares. Those numbers point to a season that has overwhelmed local firefighting capacity and drawn in extra help from across Europe.

The countries have activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism, which allows members to request emergency assistance. Firefighting aircraft from other countries were being sent to help, and the report said Spain and Portugal would each receive two fire-fighting planes. Spain had also evacuated thousands of residents as the flames continued to spread and smoke worsened conditions in affected towns and villages.

The BBC noted that while wildfires are common in southern Europe during summer, their severity can be amplified by heatwave conditions. That is the broader frame for the crisis: a seasonal hazard made worse by extreme weather, now large enough to require military reinforcements, cross-border support and prolonged evacuations.

For communities in Castile and León, Galicia and elsewhere, the immediate reality was not the statistics but the continuing effort to hold the line against multiple major fires at once. The extra soldiers were part of that emergency response, but the toll in deaths, injuries and displaced residents showed how costly the fires had already become.