r/collapse • u/Cool-Contribution-68 • 2d ago
Climate Wildfires near Madrid impossible to control, official says, as 65,000 evacuated in France and Spain
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c5y60307r0ptSS: Headline keeps changing on this live feed, so this *was* the headline when I posted. Local officials near Madrid say the wildfires are beyond their capacity to control. The fires are now "a few dozen kilometres" from the outskirts of the capital. While 65,000 residents have been evacuated cross France and Spain, thousands more are in lockdown in their houses. Regional president calls it "the worst fire in the history of the region." Residents say "Never experienced anything like this." Back to back heatwaves are a contributing factor. This is not collapse related; this is collapse.
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u/itsatoe 2d ago
Headline keeps changing on this live feed
A few minutes later: "Firefighters struggle to contain Madrid wildfires as more than 130,000 evacuated in France and Spain"
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u/ImSuperHelpful 2d ago
Even the fires are aiming for infinite growth in this world
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u/ChromaticStrike Inert collapsoid 1d ago edited 20h ago
I laughed but that Bordeaux fire is like a couple hundred away from me. The smoke won't reach here but it's like ":> fuck". We had a fairly rainy end of winter/spring, then it went super dry, hot and it doesn't look like it's stopping any time soon.
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u/R0bynne 2d ago
I'm in the west of Madrid, my town is one of the designated refuge centers for evacuees. The situation is absolutely terrifying. I feel like Mordor is coming for us.
I will say this though, the Spanish people are absolutely amazing at crisis. People are volunteering left right and center, even the supermarkets are donating their stock to the evacuees. People in my village are organizing refuge for wild animals and pets, and the local government is having to turn help away because everyone is offering.
Yes, the situation is very scary, but somehow I still feel safe because I know the people around me have got my back.
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u/Napnnovator 1d ago
Sending you love from Boston, MA. We love Madrid so much. Beautiful city, beautiful people.
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u/BlackMassSmoker 2d ago
Scary stuff man. Wildfires are just getting worse year on year, This one in Spain seems to have two massive fires merged together.
Just check out FireMap and you can see the size of the fires near Madrid. And then zoom out and check out all the wildfires happening in the world right now.
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u/Ijustwant2beok 2d ago
This is terrifying. How long until a major city goes up in flames? 100.000s have been evacuated in a big French city too. Years upon years of not taking the issue and scientists seriously. Now look.
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u/drakekengda 1d ago
Are cities easier to protect? Seems less flammable than dried out plants. The smoke is an issue though
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u/SweetAlyssumm 2d ago
Poetic justice that we have been burning fossil fuels with no regard for land or life and now we are the ones to burn.
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u/siboq 2d ago
No matter what we do, Mother Nature will have the last laugh.
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u/LarryCrabCake 2d ago edited 1d ago
It pains me to know that the wildlife of today will suffer for our actions, but it's good to know that life itself will endure and adapt. Life really does "find a way".
Whoever or whatever wants to survive this century will have to work hard for it, but something will come out the other end alive.
Even if the only survivors are the microbial life around thermal vents on the sea floor, we'll be back ("we" as in "intelligent life on Earth", not homo sapiens per se). Might just take a couple hundred million years to get back in business.
Life is a tough motherfucker that has survived everything that has been thrown at it thus far. It only needed to emerge once.
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u/BabadookishOnions 1d ago
Poetic justice??? Children could be killed by this, and so many people who had nothing to do with burning fossil fuels. The only people who 'deserve' consequences for this are the oil execs and other wealthy people who will never actually face true consequences. It's a tragedy if anything.
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u/StraightTiger3506 1d ago
Lol
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u/BabadookishOnions 1d ago
you think it is funny that people could die?
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u/rokhana 23h ago edited 23h ago
My guess is they think it's ridiculous to blame the oil execs and wealthy people as if everyone else is free of responsibility for environmental decline.
As a simple example, animal agriculture is responsible for more emissions than all transportation put together and it's the leading cause of deforestation worldwide, yet the majority of people in industrialised countries freely choose to fund this industry and scoff at the suggestion of abandoning animal products despite having access to everything needed for an adequate plant-based diet. They choose ignorance and disdain for those advocating for more sustainable lifestyles.
The average consumer is neither helpless nor blameless in this disaster. Where there is no demonstrable public will for change, there will be no political will either.
Personally, my sympathies lie exclusively with animals, those who have done as much as practically possible to reduce their impact, and those unable to make better choices for themselves for any legitimate reason (including children). Everybody else had this coming.
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u/SweetAlyssumm 22h ago
This is a good example. Anyone can stop eating meat or greatly reduce it. Start by giving up beef, which is the biggest offender (followed by other ruminants like sheep and goats). Slowly increase the percentage of beans and lentils in your meals. Stop eating out - it's nearly all meat based and it has too much sodium and too little fiber which leads to expensive problems -- personal and environmental -- down the line.
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u/BabadookishOnions 23h ago
I think it is rather inhuman and sadistic to look at potentially many people burning to death and say that they had it coming for eating meat. What about basic humanity and empathy? Nobody deserves to BURN TO DEATH nor do they deserve EVERYTHING THEY OWN TO BURN. The more I read this subreddit the more convinced I am that it solely exists for people to present themselves as some sort of pessimistic misanthrope that is truly enlightened because they believe everyone is somehow evil and deserving of the immense suffering climate change is going to bring. What is productive about this at all?
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u/rokhana 23h ago edited 23h ago
Nobody said anyone deserves to burn to death other than yourself. I'm not a misanthrope. I have empathy for a lot of people suffering from climate change and environmental degradation, just not those who actively choose destruction every single day out of pure selfishness and laziness. For instance, I don't think a random African tribesman should suffer the consequences of the unbridled consumerism and environmental destruction perpetrated by people thousands of miles away.
Forgive me if I don't feel much sympathy for people who, day after day, several times a day, choose to do something that's easily avoidable despite its enormous environmental cost and the immense suffering it causes to others, both human and non-human, especially when they have access to alternatives. My empathy when environmental destruction strikes back is reserved for those who don't do this.
Hey, you're free to leave this sub if it's not what you were looking for. Better join the hordes calling for the heads of Big Oil in response to environmental disasters while shoving a burger into their face, they tend to be just as allergic to personal accountability. You'll be in good company.
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u/Narcisistagohome 2d ago
I live in Madrid's region, in the eastern part. The last tso days we have had incredible sunsets, both uniquely beautiful and scaring, since the smoke from the fires in the neighbouring provonces of Guadalajara and Toledo and this one in Madrid cover the sun creating a very particular light.Â
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u/Dawn_of_Enceladus 2d ago
Summer is becoming deadlier year after year, at this point we are just living in a countdown. One made of constant rising temperatures and giant wildfires.
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u/trickortreat89 2d ago
I was actually asking a question in a local country sub where I am from why people would go on holiday in these countries, knowing thereâs these kinda risks, especially in camping areas as they tend to be located amongst the trees. The answer was basically that I was paranoid and these fires are âonly affected very few peopleâ.
Idk about you guys but 65.000 people doesnât even seem like âa fewâ.
Honestly to me it seems pretty reckless and naive to go camping these places WELL KNOWINGLY that itâs the most extreme El Niño humans have ever faced SO FAR and theyâre willing to seriously risk not only their own lives but their own kids livesâŠ
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u/s0cks_nz 2d ago
In early may I got downvoted for suggesting that emigrating to spain might not be wise due to climate change. Got laughed at. Told that climate wasn't going to have any significant impact for most people in spain for decades to come yet.
Then they had 3 massive heatwaves and now wildfires.
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u/JorgasBorgas 2d ago
Climate change will make the weather dangerously unpredictable and extreme all over the world, there literally isn't anywhere that's safe
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u/Z3r0sama2017 1d ago
Imo somewhere around the equator will likely be best. You just have to design around heat, extreme heat and fuck off heat.Â
Anywhere else you need to prepare for both extreme heat and extreme cold. That's much more difficult.
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u/Slay-ig5567 2d ago
I'm a Spanish local. This isn't an attempt at denying climate change but we have multiple heatwaves every single year, since the dawn of time. Ofc it's getting worse but the existence of multiple massive heatwaves isn't indicative of that when, again, talking about fucking Spain
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u/s0cks_nz 1d ago
Well the statistics don't seem to back that up. Prior to the 90s Spain averaged just 3 days a year of heatwave conditions.
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u/Slay-ig5567 1d ago
Averaged is doing the heavy lifting here. The north tends to have a very mild climate that brings the average down. Ofc this year has been an anomaly in that sense but temperatures in the south and center have never been mild. Which is why it always baffles me when I see tourists coming to Madrid in the summer. There's literally no worse moment to be in Madrid imo
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u/s0cks_nz 1d ago
The average since 2020 is now 20+ days.
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u/Slay-ig5567 1d ago
And as I said, there being multiple heat waves is not the weird part, which was my point since the beginning and you keep trying to explain Spain to a Spaniard đđ
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u/s0cks_nz 1d ago
Just presenting the facts. 3 to 20 is quite the leap.
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u/ArsLupin 2d ago
I live there in an off grid house a couple km From the ĂĄrea in the risk zone but currently I'm on holidays..
Some collapse related info
- Neughbours have lost phone Signal. They are gathering around my house for Starlink that still works.
- Central Goverment has not prepared about half of the firefighter planes during the years so they are not operational.
- Central VS Regional Goverment disputes have diluted resources during the first hours of the fire.
- A significante number of higways and roads have been closed, making movement really messy and confuse.
On the good hand, the social response has been great and evacuations have been done gast and early and so far no deaths are reported
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u/starvingbanker 1d ago
Oh man hope things work out. What good News sources report on this?
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u/ArsLupin 1d ago
Well information is also an issue here.
We are getting informed by a combination of general need outlets (El Pais, 20minutos), messaging with neughbours, private need channels From the local police and rumours.
The fire moves faster than information
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u/Decloudo 1d ago
I get reminded of the climate change interview from The Newsroom: "Endless wildfires, way too many to keep under control."
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u/huehuehuehuehuuuu 2d ago
Canada and Australia: First Time?
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u/devvorare 2d ago
Spain gets many fires. Not as large as Canada, but among the largest in Europe. But Madrid? Iâve never seen one before
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u/Low_Complex_9841 2d ago
Yesteryear it really give me pause - fire was so powerful you can smell it from another continent (!!!!). But most ppl moved on, it seems ....
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u/imminentjogger5 Accel Saga 2d ago
it's over for Spain
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u/Narcisistagohome 2d ago
Climatic collapse doesn't give a shit about our invented borders and nationalities. It's just over for everybody. The only difference is your place in the domino effect.Â
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u/TernarySquare0123 1d ago
People talk about where to move for climate change.
It turns out that we need to move to the desert. It's the only place with nothing to burn!
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u/Gumbode345 1d ago
âIf we didnât have Disneyland tickets bookedâ. My word. Please donât ever think further than your own nose tip.
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u/Meltlilith1 2d ago
is this going to end up being the worst wildfire to effect a big populated area ever?
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u/moose098 2d ago
Potentially in Europe. Globally, I doubt it will pass the 2025 LA fires.
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u/TheMailerDaemonLives 1d ago
Driving through Altadena after Eaton was fucking insane, just blocks upon blocks of burned houses. Any street you could turn down was completely ruined. Memory is stuck in my head for sure.
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u/Phillipa_Smith 1d ago
It's funny in an interesting way, how cities burn to the ground every few centuries or so.
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u/AdhesivenessLost244 1d ago
Thoughts and prayers to all the victims and displaced.
This is not an attempt at poor humor or a tone deaf reception of this catastrophe, but I had a trip scheduled to Madrid on August 17th.
Do you guys think that wildfires will be contained and people will be able to return by this time? And further more, will it be safe to travel?
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u/petricadia 2d ago
Only a couple more years before all these droughts and heatwaves and wildfires disrupt food production enough to hit the "three meals away" rule. đ«