BEJAR, SPAIN (AP) — Hundreds of firefighters backed by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft struggled on Saturday to contain one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires that erupted earlier this week and killed a least 12 people.The blazes, which also lashed France this week, came as parts of Western Europe are facing their third heat wave in six weeks. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.In Spain’s Andalusia, a combination of light winds and high humidity are helping crews but the sheer size of the fire still poses challenges, Antonio Sanz, head of the region’s emergency services, said. The fire has so far scorched some 66 square kilometers (25 square miles) of forest and farmland — about the size of Manhattan.AdvertisementAdvertisementSanz said fire crews carried out controlled burns overnight around the perimeter of the fire, which broke out late Thursday in a semi-arid area near the Sierre de Los Filabres mountains in in Almería province, just as Spain was sizzling.Most of the victims, who are believed to be foreign nationals, died after ignoring shelter-in-place instructions, authorities said. Seven people died while on foot after abandoning their cars.Four of the dead were believed to be British because the steering wheel of their burned-out car was on the right side, as with British vehicles, regional authorities said.Sanz said Saturday that authorities had completed autopsies and DNA samples were collected to identify them.AdvertisementAdvertisementSpain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has spoken with his counterparts from the U.K., Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands about the fire, Spain’s official EFE news agency reported. Almería is home to one of the largest communities of foreign nationals in Andalusia.Authorities proactively evacuated 1,448 people from some 11 areas.Many are fleeing the flamesJeffrey Kember and his wife, Christine, were watching a favorite TV show in their Los Pinos farmhouse when the blare of a siren alerted them to the fire. The couple jumped into their respective cars while also trying to help a neighbor with two toddlers.The husband described how they got separated and how he was unable to speak to his wife because she didn’t have a phon …
