The text from Fran Gillam to her daughter at 7pm on Thursday was brief: they were evacuating. Then silence. Messages and calls failed. Two days later, Danielle Gillam-Kirton posted on Facebook: “We are heartbroken to share that we have received confirmation from the police that Mum and Dad did not survive the fire.” Pete and Fran Gillam, who lived in Bédar – one of the villages hit hardest by Spain’s wildfires – were among 13 people killed as flames tore through southern Spain. The couple’s daughter added: “Thank you for all your love, support and prayers over the past few days.”
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has called for stronger measures to tackle wildfires after meeting emergency teams who stabilised the blaze, which spread so rapidly that victims were trapped in their cars or on foot as they tried to flee. Scorching temperatures, incredibly dry ground and powerful winds fuelled the fire on Thursday afternoon. Much of Europe, including Spain, has battled extreme heatwaves, with some areas recording temperatures of up to 44C.
“British couple Pete and Fran Gillam among 13 killed in Spain's deadliest wildfires; daughter pays tribute.”
Authorities are racing to use DNA to identify those who could not escape. Relatives of the missing have been asked to provide samples to Bédar’s civil office; many victims suffered burns so severe that identification would be impossible without it. Officials confirmed on Monday that a British couple were among the first victims identified. A Spanish man and his British wife, a French woman and a Belgian man have also been named. The number of missing remains unclear until autopsies and body identifications are carried out. Andalucían regional authorities said a 93-year-old British woman injured in the fire had died in hospital.
Burned-out cars abandoned on the road out of Bédar held passengers burned alive as they tried to leave the province. Bodies inside a gutted right-hand-drive Honda Accord are thought to be those of at least four more British victims. Penelope Howe, 54, who lives near Bédar, said her friend’s husband died in his car while trying to evacuate with his cats from the Los Gallardos area of Almería province. “She’s in deep shock,” Howe said. “At one point he needed to stop and she spoke to him on the phone. He had got the cats and was trapped in the car. They were speaking together for the last few minutes. That was how it ended.”
