BARCELONA, Spain >> Europe’s continuing heat wave Wednesday helped fuel a deadly wildfire in Spain while the European Union presented plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under scorching temperatures.

The blaze that broke out late Tuesday created an enormous thick plume of ash and smoke that rose 45,000 feet into the sky, making it the largest registered by firefighters in Catalonia, a northeastern region of Spain.

Two farmers were killed while apparently trying to flee in a vehicle, local authorities said Wednesday.

Firefighters said that the fire spread at 17 mph at one point as it consumed 16,000 acres mostly of grain fields.

“Wildfires today are not like they were before,” Salvador Illa, regional president of Catalonia, said. “These are extremely dangerous. From the very first moment, it was considered to be beyond the capacity of extinction. I mean that not even with two or three times the number of firefighters, they have told me, it would have been possible to put out.”

Firefighters credited a rainstorm later Tuesday for having “quickly changed the situation and helped speed up getting the fire stabilized.”

Two of the 500 firefighters who deployed needed treatment at a local hospital for their injuries. Some 14,000 residents were ordered to stay indoors for several hours Tuesday night.

More hot weather is expected Wednesday with temperatures in the Lleida region forecast to reach a high of 102 F.

The European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts said that it was closely monitoring the abnormally hot temperatures.

Weather experts link the heat wave to climate change.

Spain’s seas heat up

After Spain set a record for June air temperatures, its port authorities recorded the hottest water temperature readings for the month in the Mediterranean and the part of the Atlantic nearest to France.

Experts say higher surface temperatures are bad for sea life and make for warmer nights on shore.

“A much warmer sea around us contributes to the nights not cooling down, which is detrimental to people’s rest,” Manuel Vargas, researcher at the Oceanographic Center of Malaga, told The Associated Press.

In Spain’s southern city of Malaga, the Red Cross set up an air-conditioned “climate refuge” to help residents and provided and “assisted bathing service” to help people with reduced mobility to cool down in waters at the beach.

Turkey battles blaze

In Turkey, authorities evacuated two neighborhoods in the Aegean coastal town of Cesme after a fire that started on an agricultural field, spread to a forested area, threatening some holiday homes in the region.

Turkey has been battling a series of wildfires stoked by strong winds, heat and low humidity.

France under alert

France’s national weather agency kept four departments under red alert Wednesday after temperatures exceeded 104 F in many towns.

The summit of Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower remained closed until Thursday for “everyone’s comfort and safety.”