Fire licks Spanish nature reserve, 1,500 evacuated

More than 1,500 people were evacuated as a precaution Sunday after a fire broke out at a nature reserve in southern Spain famed for its biodiversity, authorities said. The fire started overnight and had by morning encroached on the Donana National Park at Moguer in the southern region of Andalusia, Jose Fiscal, deputy head of the regional environment protection authority, told Spanish television.
The reserve enjoys UNESCO protected status as an important biosphere reserve and is a tourist attraction. Many of those evacuated were staying at a camp site, Fiscal said. The park is home to a wide variety of ecosystems and forms of wildlife including endangered species, notably the Iberian lynx and the Spanish imperial eagle.
Emergency services said local authorities sent in ten helicopters, seven planes and four waterbombing planes to deal with the blaze, which comes a week after forest fires killed more than 60 people in neighbouring Portugal. Authorities were not able to speculate on the scale of the fire as it was still not under control by late morning.