The regional authorities on Thursday said that nearly 800 people in southwestern Spain have been evacuated from their homes and road traffic has been disrupted as firefighting teams and planes fight a wildfire.

The Associated Press reported that the blaze in a mountain range of the Malaga province broke out late on Wednesday and grew overnight. It also prompted the first evacuation of about 400 people near the resort town of Estepona.

On Thursday, several housing developments were emptied by authorities as the blaze began to expand.

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Around 250 firefighters were working to extinguish the fire on the ground, helped by 29 planes and helicopters, the Associated Press reported authorities as saying.

José Gracia Urbano, the mayor of Estepona, told reporters that investigators were looking at the fire as possible arson, given that it started in two different places late in the evening as the wind was gusting up.

“It’s very suspicious,” Urbano said, in comments carried by TVE, Spain’s public broadcaster.

It is also said that the smoke from the blaze led to the closure of some 14 kilometers (9 miles) on the AP-7, a major motorway. The reports further said that the traffic was blocked again in the afternoon as stronger winds fanned the flames. At least two smaller roads remained closed.

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The regional fire extinguishing service said that the rugged terrain made quelling the flames “difficult.”

“It has pronounced slopes and there is a strong west wind that is complicating the work,” Infoca said in a statement.

Wildfires — some natural and others manmade — are common in southern Europe during the hot, dry summer months.

Spain’s Ministry for Ecological Transition said that, as of Aug. 29, 74,200 hectares (186,000 acres) of forest and bush areas in the country had burnt in 2021.