Spain: Wildfires destroy man’s 40 year old vegetable allotment
Cid and his wife were evacuated Monday as flames approached the village of Litos, while other residents stayed to protect it.
Associated Press
July 25, 2022
Excerpt:
Emiliano Cid has been tending to his vegetable allotment for the last 40 years, but in just a few hours a wildfire destroyed a lifetime’s work.
Spanish firefighters have been battling blazes in the northwestern Zamora province since Monday as scorching temperatures continued to fuel ferocious wildfires in Spain.
Cid and his wife were evacuated Monday as flames approached the village of Litos, while other residents stayed to protect it.
Wednesday was the first day he had been back to see his allotment.
He said he had lost all of his fruit trees and most of the vegetables.
Despite the ruined crops, Cid spent the morning watering with a bucket the little he has left to save.
“Our future is very uncertain,” said Cid, through the tears.
Zamora has recorded two deaths from wildfires in the past two days: a 69-year-old shepherd and a 62-year-old firefighter.
The body of the shepherd was found Monday in the same hilly area where the firefighter died a day earlier when he was trapped by flames.
More than 30 forest fires around Spain have forced the evacuation of thousands of people and blackened 220 square kilometers (85 square miles) of forest and scrub.
