Fornillos de Fermoselle wildfire razes couple's home

Julia and David, a couple from Zamora, had spent two years restoring their two‑storey house in the village of Fornillos de Fermoselle. On a Wednesday afternoon a fire that started in nearby Fermoselle spread rapidly, reaching Fornillos by four o’clock. The blaze reduced their newly renovated home to a shell of four walls, with only the courtyard and outbuilding surviving. "We were just finishing the renovation," David said while trying to cool the smouldering remains. Julia added, "We have another house in Zamora, but many people have lost more." Local councilor José María Benéitez, the village’s mayor, criticised the lack of preventive measures, saying, "Too little is done; if an ordinance is issued to clean, nobody follows it." The fire also threatened surrounding farms and prompted residents to fight the flames with hoses, fearing further damage.

The incident highlights the vulnerability of rural homes in Spain’s Arribes del Duero Natural Park to wildfires, and raises questions about forest management and emergency response in the region.