A third victim of the Sierra de la Culebra fire dies in Zamora

A man looks at the flames of the Sierra de la Culebra forest fire, in Zamora, on June 19.ÓSCAR CORRAL

Eugenio Ratón, 65 years old and a resident of Sesnández de Tábara

(Zamora), died this Tuesday at the Getafe hospital (Madrid) due to burns suffered after being hit by the fire that broke out last June in the Sierra de la Culebra.

The flames reached him when he tried to flee and save his father, a centenarian, from the fire that besieged the town, according to sources familiar with the case.

Mouse, who was surprised by the fire in his vehicle, had burns on 80% of his body.

At first, he was treated at the Salamanca University Assistance Complex.

And a month ago he was transferred to the burn unit of the Madrid hospital center where he finally died this morning, becoming the third victim of the first major fire in what is being a hellish summer of fire and heat waves throughout Spain.

More information

The 100 hours that burned the heart of the Sierra de la Culebra

The one in the Sierra de la Culebra has also been the deadliest of all the fires recorded in recent months.

It brings together the three fatalities that have occurred to date.

The death of Eugenio Ratón is added to that of another of his relatives, the pastor of Escober de Tábara Victoriano Antón, 68 years old;

and that of Danile Gullón Vara, an experienced 62-year-old forest firefighter who lost his life fighting the flames that originated in Losacio.

The fire devastated 30,000 hectares of the Sierra de la Culebra with the first heat wave of a sinister summer.

Citizens and forest firefighters continue to claim responsibilities from the Junta de Castilla y León for its "mismanagement", "lack of foresight" and for not having the necessary operations or cleaning the forests during the year, being one of the autonomies that invests less in extinction.

So far this summer, 60,000 hectares have burned in total in the province.