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Spain evacuates 9,000 from massive tire fire near Madrid

Four women walk with masks in front of billowing black smoke from a huge fire in Sesena, central Spain, Friday, May 13, 2016. A massive fire is raging at a sprawling tire dump in a town near Madrid, sending a spectacular cloud of thick black smoke into the air that's visible for at least 30 kilometers (20 miles). Ten teams of firefighters are trying to put out the blaze at the tire dump in the town of Sesena, still raging more than 10 hours after it started. (AP Photo/Paul White)
Four women walk with masks in front of billowing black smoke from a huge fire in Sesena, central Spain, Friday, May 13, 2016. A massive fire is raging at a sprawling tire dump in a town near Madrid, sending a spectacular cloud of thick black smoke into the air that's visible for at least 30 kilometers (20 miles). Ten teams of firefighters are trying to put out the blaze at the tire dump in the town of Sesena, still raging more than 10 hours after it started. (AP Photo/Paul White) Four women walk with masks in front of billowing black smoke from a huge fire in Sesena, central Spain, Friday, May 13, 2016. A massive fire is raging at a sprawling tire dump in a town near Madrid, sending a spectacular cloud of thick black smoke into the air that's visible for at least 30 kilometers (20 miles). Ten teams of firefighters are trying to put out the blaze at the tire dump in the town of Sesena, still raging more than 10 hours after it started. (AP Photo/Paul White)

By Associated Press 1 min read

MADRID (AP) – Spanish officials have ordered the evacuation of 9,000 people living in a sprawling apartment complex close to a raging tire dump fire in a town near Madrid.

The Castilla-La Mancha regional government tweeted Friday night that about 8,000 apartment residents in the town of Sesena had already left their homes as thick black smoke poured out from the fire, which started before dawn.

The government said ambulances were being sent to the complex to evacuate residents with health problems who could not leave on their own.

No one has been injured in the fire, which authorities believe was intentionally set. Its billowing black smoke was visible from Madrid, more than 30 kilometers (20 miles) away.