Climate change has now become a problem for the entire solar system. On Friday, wildfires in Spain engulfed one of three observatories the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration uses to connect with spacecraft, including Voyager 1, the James Webb Space Telescope and the recently completed Artemis mission around the Moon.

Spain declared a wildfire emergency as multiple fires burned out of control near Madrid, with evacuation orders for 60,000 people. The affected area includes Robledo de Chavela, a municipality near the Deep Space Communications Complex managed by NASA.

Dramatic images captured by news photographers showed the radio telescopes surrounded by smoke and fire. A NASA spokesperson said in an email to WIRED that the agency successfully evacuated all personnel.

They added that while the fire has already passed through the observatory complex, it is unclear what impact the flames may have had on sensitive equipment inside. “Any potential damage will be assessed when it is safe to do so,” the spokesperson said. They add that if conditions permit, a site evaluation could take place on Saturday.

For now, NASA said it has “smoothly transitioned mission operations support to the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California, ensuring continuity of service and uninterrupted support for spacecraft communications.”

The facility in Spain, along with others in Canberra, Australia, and Goldstone, California, make up what NASA calls “the largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications system in the world.” The network allows NASA to transmit information from Earth to spacecraft, including the most distant man-made object in our solar system, Voyager 1. It is also used to transfer data from the James Webb Space Telescope and send commands to other space vehicles. Oh, and the sites also contribute to radio astronomy observations. Suffice it to say that it is a very important collection of instruments for understanding the solar system.

Spain is far from the only country facing a forest fire crisis. Fires are also out of control in France, where beachgoers watched skies turn orange and waves of ash wash ashore as firefighters worked to prevent flames from spreading to the eponymous capital of the Bordeaux wine region.

“In mid-afternoon we learned that, after the change of wind, it had become a large self-sustaining fire that is extremely difficult to control,” French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told national television channel Tf1. “It is now moving east, towards the Bordeaux metropolitan area. We are going to reorganize our response to be able to combat it from the ground and prevent it from advancing.”

About 200,000 people have been ordered to evacuate the two countries.

Europe has experienced record temperatures this summer, driven by repeated heat domes encamping over the continent and the UK, as well as climate change. Warm weather can dry out vegetation, preparing forests to burn when struck by an errant spark. Similar stories have recently unfolded in other parts of the world, from Ontario, Canada, to the United States’ Pacific Northwest.

Cooler weather is expected to arrive in the Mediterranean over the weekend, which should help firefighters control the fires. But the respite will be short-lived: Temperatures are expected to soar again on Monday and continue rising throughout the week, eventually reaching as much as 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal. That could worsen any wildfires in Spain or France that may still be burning, or help spark new ones.