3 dead and thousands displaced as wildfires rage across southern Europe
As water-dropping planes and helicopters swooped overhead, residents joined the effort, beating back flames with cut branches or dousing them with buckets of water. Firefighting resources were stretched thin in many affected countries as they battled multiple outbreaks following weeks of heat waves and temperature spikes across Mediterranean Europe.
Aircraft rotated between blazes on the western Greek mainland, the Patras area and the island of Zakynthos. Athens also sent assistance to neighboring Albania, joining an international effort to combat dozens of wildfires. An 80-year-old man died in one blaze south of the capital, Tirana, officials said Wednesday.
Residents of four villages were evacuated in central Albania near a former army ammunition depot. In the southern Korca district, near the Greek border, explosions were reported from buried World War II-era artillery shells. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed condolences after the death of a firefighting volunteer in the hard-hit Castile and León region north of Madrid, where thousands have been displaced by evacuations.
The government raised its national emergency response level, preparing additional support for regional authorities overseeing multiple evacuations and highway closures. A forestry worker was also killed Wednesday while responding to a wildfire in southern Turkey, officials said. The Forestry Ministry said the worker died in an accident involving a fire truck that left four others injured.
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Arab Times
9 hours ago
- Arab Times
Wildfires ravage Europe in worldwide heat waves
MADRID, Aug 14, (Xinhua): Record heatwaves have turned Europe into a sweltering sauna above 40 degrees Celsius as raging wildfires sweep many countries on high alert. The extreme summer heat has created favorable conditions for rampant wildfires, which have already killed several people, displaced thousands and forced firefighters to battle blazes across large parts of Europe. In France, a heatwave broke temperature records in the southwest, with maximums up to 12 degrees Celsius above normal, before spreading to the center-east and northeast of the country. "Often remarkable, even unprecedented maximum temperatures, often 12 degrees above normal levels, were reached this Monday," Meteo France said Tuesday in a press release. The intense heat, combined with dry winds and rare rainfall, has created ideal conditions for fueling wildfires, which have erupted across southern Europe and the Balkans. In Croatia, air temperature records were set in Sibenik, at 39.5 degrees, and Dubrovnik, at 38.9 degrees, while large forest fires raged along its coasts and ripped through neighboring countries in the Balkans. In Spain, for example, a lightning-sparked wildfire near Madrid killed one man, forced hundreds of residents to evacuate, and scorched about 1,000 hectares of land, while a second fire in the southern resort town of Tarifa prompted around 2,000 people to flee, and additional blazes in Zamora and Castilla y Leon forced hundreds more to leave. A fire map published on the website of national broadcaster RTVE shows widespread fire activities across the country, with orange and red indicators marking both active fires and affected zones. Authorities are requesting help from European partners as Spain faces its 10th consecutive day of a record-breaking heatwave, with temperatures peaking at 45 degrees. The country is ready to seek more help from European allies, such as more firefighters, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska was quoted by local media Cadena SER as saying on Wednesday. Meanwhile, wildfires continue to scorch northern Portugal, with more than 1,300 firefighters and 16 aircraft busy battling flames, one of which has been burning for 10 days.
Kuwait Times
16 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
Thousands battle fires as heatwave bakes Europe
PATRAS: Greece on Wednesday battled to contain more than 20 wildfires including one menacing its third-largest city Patras as a heatwave stoked blazes and forced the evacuation of thousands in southern Europe. Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, the Balkans and Britain have this week wilted in high temperatures that fuel wildfires and which scientists say human-induced climate change is intensifying. Greece Since dawn on Wednesday, 4,850 firefighters and 33 planes were mobilized across Greece on what promised to be 'a very difficult day', fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said. Fierce wind 'is hampering the task of water bombers, and is making collecting water at sea more difficult', the president of the firefighter officers' union, Kostas Tsigkas, told public broadcaster ERT. An AFP journalist saw residents and firefighters backed by helicopters frantically attempt to douse flames in scrubland and forests outside Patras, with thick smoke reducing visibility. Officials evacuated a Patras children's hospital and a retirement home as a precaution, and local media footage showed the roof of a 17th century monastery outside the city on fire. Other fronts were burning on the popular Ionian tourist islands of Zante and Cephalonia and the Aegean island of Chios, scarred by a huge wildfire in June that ravaged more than 4,000 hectares. Around 20 villages were evacuated in the western Achaia region on Tuesday, while the Greek coastguard said nearly 80 people were removed from Chios and near Patras. The national ambulance service reported more than 50 hospitalizations, including 'a small number of firefighters', mostly for respiratory problems and minor burns. After Greece requested four water bombers from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to bolster its resources, the main opposition PASOK Socialist party questioned the conservative government's preparedness for fires that strike every year. 'A fully reformed civil protection system with an emphasis on prevention is required,' PASOK said, identifying a poor coordination of forces and a lack of local emergency plans that made firefighting 'extremely challenging'. Spain Wildfires continued to dominate the news in Spain, where cooler temperatures and greater humidity were expected to help control blazes in which two people have died. Authorities in the northwestern region of Castile and Leon, where flames have threatened a world heritage Roman mining site, said almost 6,000 people from 26 localities had been evacuated from their homes. The regional government said seven people had been admitted to hospital for burns, including four in critical condition. Bushy undergrowth and searing temperatures that have baked Spain for almost two weeks had created 'the worst possible breeding ground for this situation', said Castile and Leon's civil protection head Irene Cortes. A total of 199 wildfires have scorched nearly 98,784 hectares across Spain this year, more than double the area burned during the same period in 2024. Portugal Neighboring Portugal deployed more than 2,100 firefighters and 20 aircraft against five major blazes, with efforts focused on a fire in the central municipality of Trancoso that has raged since Saturday. Strong gusts of wind had rekindled flames overnight and threatened nearby villages, where television images showed locals volunteering to help firefighters under a thick cloud of smoke. 'It's scary... but we are always ready to help each other,' a mask-wearing farmer told Sic Noticias television, holding a spade in his hand. A separate fire in a mountainous zone of Arganil in central Portugal smothered several villages with smoke, prompting the evacuation of elderly residents in particular. Balkans Dozens of blazes continued to stretch emergency services in the Balkans, where a severe drought and a prolonged heatwave have exacerbated the region's traditional fire season. An 80-year-old man died in Albania late Tuesday after he lost control of a fire he had started in his garden. The blaze quickly spread to neighboring homes, injuring eight people. Authorities have evacuated residents in parts of central and southern Albania, but easing weather conditions in neighboring Montenegro helped firefighters protect homes. The country mourned a soldier who died in a water truck overturn near the capital Podgorica on Tuesday, with the defense ministry speaking of a 'heavy loss'. Britain Temperatures were expected to peak at 34C in historically temperate Britain's fourth heatwave of the summer. The UK Health Security Agency warned of 'significant impacts' on health and social care services for the parts of central and southeastern England suffering the harshest heat. - AFP
Kuwait Times
a day ago
- Kuwait Times
Two killed, 12 injured in ongoing wildfires across Spain
MADRID: Spanish state television reported Wednesday that dozens of wildfires continue to sweep through Spain, leaving two people dead and 12 others injured, including two firefighters, and destroying lands. Over 6,000 residents were evacuated as fires coincided with an intense heatwave gripping the country for the past 11 days, expected to persist until next Monday. Authorities said one victim died after suffering severe burns in a forest fire in Tres Cantos, Madrid, while the other, a volunteer, lost his life battling a blaze in Castile and Leon. The Spanish government activated a pre-emergency phase to enhance coordination and mobilize resources, as six major fires remain active across six autonomous regions, including Castile and Leon, Castilla-La Mancha, Galicia, Extremadura, Andalusia, and Madrid. The fires have destroyed 59,000 hectares of forest and woodland so far this year, matching the total area burned in all of 2024. — KUNA
