How a reforestation company accidentally sparked a wildfire in Spain

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (fourth from right) at the site of the wildfire in Ateca on July 20.

What started as preparation for a reforestation effort ended up becoming a devastating wildfire in Spain.

A Netherlands-based company has claimed responsibility for starting a fire in Spain's Ateca municipality -- the location of one of its reforestation projects -- on July 18.

"The fire started while one of our contractors was using a retro-spider excavator to prepare the soil to plant trees later this winter," Land Life said in a statement on July 21.  A spark from the excavator led to the blaze.

"The operators alerted the emergency services. The emergency teams are working non-stop to control the fire and have fortunately established the fire perimeter," it added.

The company expressed solidarity with local community members, who had to evacuate their homes. "We have offered our collaboration to the authorities and will continue to follow up on anything we can do in this situation," it said.

Land Life has drawn criticism for operating in a season prone to wildfires

“They are going to repopulate 200 hectares and they are going to burn at least 1,000 pine trees that are 50 years old,” Antonio Borque, the mayor of  Bubierca, a municipality situated in the same region as Ateca, told Heraldo newspaper.

As many as 1,700 people were evacuated after the wildfire in Ateca, news agency AFP reported.

Across Spain, dozens of wildfires erupted last week, most because of the extreme heat.

The heatwave in Spain, that lasted from  July 9-18, was one of worst the country has ever seen. As many as 500 people in the country died because of extreme weather.