Residents of Spanish Towns Tell Stories of Escaping Deadly Wildfires

A fast-moving wildfire swept through the town of Bédar in southern Spain last week, killing at least 12 people and leaving 23 others missing. The fire spread through dry hills and narrow dirt roads, trapping many residents before they could get away. Most of the victims were British and Belgian retirees who had moved to the area for its peaceful countryside. The disaster has raised serious questions about whether residents received enough warning in time.

Lucinda Curtois, 52, was relaxing in the pool of her vacation home near Bédar when a neighbor stopped by to mention flames on a distant hillside. She was not worried at first, since she had been visiting the area from Britain for 17 years without any trouble. When her father called from Britain to say he had seen news about a dangerous fire nearby, she told him everything was fine. But shortly after she hung up, her teenage son shouted that flames had reached a ridge close to their home.

Panicking, Ms. Curtois, her husband, and their two teenage children jumped in the car and drove down the hill toward the sea — but it turned out to be a mistake. 'We were just faced by a wall of fire,' she said. The family had never received the official recommendation telling them which direction to go. They eventually made it to safety, but many of their neighbors were not so lucky.

The fire was driven by fast, dry winds and fed on dry grass and shrubs baked by weeks of intense heat. It killed at least 12 people in the Bédar area, and another 23 — mostly British and Belgian retirees — are still unaccounted for. Spain's deputy prime minister, Félix Bolaños, described the fire as unlike anything the country had ever seen. 'A wildfire like this advanced at 100 meters per minute. We have never seen such ferocity here,' he said.

Officials across Europe have been warning that rising temperatures are making deadly wildfires more common. This summer alone, major fires have burned in Greece, France, Portugal, and now Spain. Scientists say that climate change is causing hotter and drier conditions that allow fires to spread faster and farther than before. World leaders are under growing pressure to act on the climate emergency.

On Sunday, the president of the Andalusia region announced that the fire had finally been brought under control and allowed about 1,000 displaced residents to return home. He said the fire likely started when a downed power line fell into a roadside ditch on Thursday, sparking a small fire that quickly grew on strong winds and spread nearly 10 miles in just two hours. However, the electric company said the wires were not live, and police are still investigating the true cause. Many residents and experts are demanding answers.

The regional government chose not to send an emergency alert to people's phones, saying the system could not target small, scattered communities precisely enough. Instead, police officers, local mayors, and volunteers tried to warn people by going door to door, using loudspeakers, and making phone calls. But many residents said the warnings were confusing and came too late. Even as church bells rang nonstop in Bédar, people were unsure whether to leave or stay sheltered inside.

Seven of the people who died had turned off the official evacuation route and taken a farm track that turned out to be a dead end. Four other victims were found inside a burned-out car; officials believed they were British because the steering wheel was on the right side of the vehicle. One Belgian man, Stanislas Verdonckt, is believed to have tried to follow the official route but was blocked by flames and forced to turn back. His son wrote on social media that his father and others 'did not lead themselves into a trap; they were already trapped.'

Survivors described how terrifyingly fast the fire moved through the area's steep hills. Scott Durling, 52, a Canadian who spends part of each year in Bédar, said his family first noticed only a small puff of smoke while swimming on Thursday afternoon. About an hour later, his sons showed him flames approaching the village from the rooftop terrace. Because he knew the local paths well, he did not wait for an official evacuation order, and his family safely reached a neighboring town.

Local residents said the area had long attracted foreigners with its beautiful countryside and peaceful way of life. Retirees built homes in isolated spots surrounded by gardens and almond trees, connected to the main roads by narrow dirt tracks. Those same narrow roads became deadly traps once the fire started moving fast. 'It is a bit of a paradise,' said longtime resident Luisa Cintas Contreras. 'But where were they supposed to go?'