past and present tenses

Question

When translating an account the past in Spanish would the english translation be in the present or past tense? Like “apagan los fuegos” is they extinguish the fires but in english we would say they extinguished the fires, right?

Accepted Answer

Hola Lily-May
As Juanita says, the preterite (simple past tense) for that sentence would be: "apagaron los fuegos" or in the present perfect: "han apagado los fuegos" - depending on the context and how this action is seen in the past. 
However we have to bear in mind that sometimes in certain contexts we use what is called "el presente narrativo" to narrate past actions. We have a lesson on this. Have a look here. Maybe you were referring to this? 
Saludos
Inma

Answer

No that would not be correct. The Spanish for they extinguished the fires would be apagaron los fuegos or han apagado los fuegos.