"Slight improvement" as fight continues against Spanish wildfire

Authorities on Sunday announced a "slight improvement" as they enter the fourth day of their battle to contain a wildfire in the Sierra de Gata hills in southwest Spain.

The fire, which is in the region of Extremadura, has consumed around 6,500 hectares of land and led to 1,400 people being evacuated from the towns of Acebo and Perales del Puerto in the early hours of Friday morning.

Some of those were allowed to return to their homes late on Saturday as conditions to combat the fire improved, although the Major of Acebo, Javier Alviz, lamented on Spanish national radio station RTVE that "everything has been burned and the residents feel helpless at not being able to do anything."

He did, however, confirm that no houses in the village had been destroyed.

The first three days of the fire had seen high and changeable winds produce difficult conditions for the hundreds of firefighters who not only came from Extremadura, but also from other Spanish regions, such as Andalusia, Castilla-Leon and even neighboring Portugal.

Those winds died down late on Saturday allowing firefighters to work "without stopping" to create firebreaks and control the flames.

The work carried out by around 300 firefighters, including members of the Spanish military, means that all of the roads in the region are now open, although residents from a third town Hoyos have still not been able to return to their homes and the Red Cross maintains an operation to look after a total of up to 2,000 possible evacuees.

Meanwhile investigations continue into how the fire started.

Spain's Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment confirmed on Friday that the first seven months of 2015 had seen 52,227 hectares destroyed by fire: over twice the 20,947 hectares burned in 2013 and well above the 37,584 hectares affected last year. Endit