estaban arrancando
Imperfect progressive ellos/ellas/ustedes conjugation of arrancar.

arrancar

Y el calor del suelo ha sido tan intenso que las suelas de las botas de algunos bomberos se estaban arrancando y tenían que caminar sobre tablones de madera.
And heat from the ground has been so intense that the soles of some firefighters' boots were tearing off and they were having to walk on wooden planks.
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