Two firefighters have died from injuries sustained in battling a wildfire in Spain's eastern province of Alicante while hundreds were evacuated by boat to escape a fire raging on the Canary Island of La Gomera, an emergency services official said Monday. One firefighter died Monday in an Alicante city hospital while another died there Sunday, and two other crew members were being treated in the hospital, said the official. He said the blaze is believed to have started when a car broke down and caught fire when its hood was lifted. The Alicante blaze was one of half a dozen raging throughout Spain on Monday, according to a report of the Associated Press. Nearly 1,000 tourists and island residents were evacuated by boat from the western island town of Valle Gran Rey on La Gomera island, located off the northwest coast of Africa, as authorities feared fires in surrounding hills could engulf the town. A further 3,000 people were gathered at the town's port area Monday waiting to see how the fire developed, said Candelaria Ceballos, spokeswoman for the Canary Island regional government. She said some 3,100 hectares, including some 800 hectares in the Garajonay National Park, had been destroyed since the fire began Aug. 4.
