Weekend fires in Portugal, Spain kill 36

UPDATE: Nearly all of the fires that sprang up in Portugal and Spain over the weekend are out, but officials say the disaster’s death toll has risen to at least 41. Investigators are trying to determine what caused the record number of blazes, but officials have already blamed arsonists for starting most of them.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (10/16/17, 2 p.m.): Firefighters in Portugal and Spain are battling blazes that left at least 36 people dead over the weekend, including one infant. Fires are common in the region’s dense forests, which are poorly managed and contain plenty of fuel for the flames. Most of the fires are set deliberately, according to officials. “What we are seeing here doesn’t happen accidentally. This has been induced,” said Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy during a visit to a Galician fire department. Portuguese emergency management officials recorded 523 fires Sunday, the highest one-day total in the country’s history. Earlier this year, wildfires in Portugal killed 64 people in one night. This year’s death toll, 96 so far, outpaced the previous record of 25 set in 1966. High winds spawned by Ophelia, the hurricane buffeting Ireland and England, helped fan the weekend’s conflagrations. But forecasters predict rain and cooler weather will help bring the blazes under control during the next few days.