Turkey wildfires largely contained, minister says
Both Canakkale airport and the Dardanelles Strait, which connects the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara, were temporarily shut due to the wildfires on Monday.
Wildfires in Canakkale province and along the southern part of the Dardanelles Strait and in the western province of Izmir had been brought completely under control, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said in a post on X.
Tugbagul Altan Gulgun, 40, said she and her family had left their home within minutes, only taking a few belongings. She had tried to reduce the risk by removing flammable items and watering nearby trees and surfaces.
But their home did not escape the flames.
"Our house was burnt on one side. It looks like you can go inside, but of course, many of our belongings, as well as the rooms and doors, are charred," Gulgun said.
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Reuters
28 minutes ago
- Reuters
Wildfires fanned by heatwave rage across Europe, burning houses and factories
PATRAS, Greece,/MADRID, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Wildfires fanned by a heatwave and strong winds continued to rage across southern Europe on Wednesday, burning houses, farms and factories and forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists. Flames and dark smoke billowed over a cement factory that was set alight by a wildfire that swept through olive groves and forests and disrupted rail traffic on the outskirts of the Greek city of Patras, in the northern Peloponnese west of Athens. "What does it look like? It looks like doomsday. May God help us and help the people here,' said Giorgos Karvanis, a volunteer who had come from Athens to Patras to help. Authorities ordered residents of a town of about 7,700 people near Patras to evacuate on Tuesday and issued new alerts on Wednesday, advising residents of two nearby villages to leave their homes. On the Greek islands of Chios, in the east, and Cephalonia, in the west, both popular with tourists, authorities told people to move to safety as fires spread. In Spain, a volunteer firefighter died from severe burns and several people were hospitalised as state weather agency AEMET warned that almost all of the country was at extreme or very high risk of fire. The 35-year-old man had been attempting to create firebreaks near the town of Nogarejas, in the central Castile and Leon region, when he was trapped in the blaze, regional officials said. Firefighters hosed down blazing houses and warehouses in villages in Castile and Leon, where more than 5,000 people were evacuated. The leader of the Galicia region in the northwest, Alfonso Rueda, called the situation there "complicated" and said the weather was not helping. Six active fires were affecting a combined 10,000 hectares (38 square miles) in Galicia's Ourense province. Spanish Environment Minister Sara Aagesen told SER radio station that many fires across the country were suspected to be intentionally caused by arsonists due to their "virulence", but added it was too early to say how many. In Albania, Defence Minister Pirro Vengu said it was a "critical week", with several major wildfires burning across the country. In the southern city of Delvina, evacuees returned to their homes but authorities remained vigilant. Attempts to douse the fires have been hampered by a heatwave across large parts of the continent. Spain was in its 10th day of a heatwave that peaked on Tuesday with temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), and which AEMET expected to last until Monday, making it one of the longest on record. Pope Leo moved his weekly audience from St. Peter's Square to an indoor venue in the Vatican, "to stay a little bit out of the sun and the extreme heat" as Italy's health ministry issued extreme heat warnings for 16 cities on Wednesday, with temperatures forecast to peak at 39C (102F) in Florence.
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Spain wildfires are ‘clear warning' of climate emergency, minister says
The heatwave-fuelled wildfires that have killed two people in Spain over recent days, devouring thousands of hectares of land and forcing thousands of people from their homes, are a 'clear warning' of the impact of the climate emergency, the country's environment minister has said. Speaking on Wednesday morning, as firefighters in Spain, Greece and other Mediterranean countries continued to battle dozens of blazes, Sara Aagesen said the 14 wildfires still burning across seven Spanish regions were further proof of the country's particular vulnerability to global heating. Aagesen said that while some of the fires appeared to have been started deliberately, the deadly blazes were a clear indicator of the climate emergency and of the need for better preparation and prevention. 'The fires are one of the parts of the impact of that climate change, which is why we have to do all we can when it comes to prevention,' she told Cadena Ser radio. 'Our country is especially vulnerable to climate change. We have resources now but, given that the scientific evidence and the general expectation point to it having an ever greater impact, we need to work to reinforce and professionalise those resources.' Aagesen's comments came a day after temperatures in parts of southern Spain surged past 45C (113F). The state meteorological office, Aemet, said there were no recorded precedents for the temperatures experienced between 1 August and 20 August. A 35-year-old volunteer firefighter died on Tuesday in the north-western Spanish region of Castilla y León, where fires have prompted the evacuation of 5,000 people. His death came hours after that of a 50-year-old man who suffered 98% burns while trying to save horses from a burning stable near Madrid on Monday night. By Wednesday morning, the Madrid fire had been brought under control, but blazes in the Ourense province of Galicia had consumed 7,000 hectares of land. 'Emergency teams are continuing to fight fires across our country,' the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said in a post on X on Wednesday. 'The fire situation remains serious and extreme caution is essential. My thanks, once again, to all of you who are working tirelessly to fight the flames.' In Greece, which requested EU aerial assistance on Tuesday, close to 5,000 firefighters were battling blazes fanned by gale-force winds nationwide. Authorities said emergency workers were waging a 'a titanic battle' to douse flames still raging through the western Peloponnese, in Epirus further north, and on the islands of Zakynthos, Kefalonia and Chios, where thousands of residents and tourists have been evacuated from homes and hotels. Local media reported the wildfires had decimated houses, farms and factories and forced people to flee. Fifteen firefighters and two volunteers had suffered burns and other injuries including 'symptoms of heat stroke', the fire service said. Around midnight a huge blaze erupted on Chios, devouring land that had only begun to recover from devastating wildfires in June. As the flames reached the shores, the coastguard rushed to remove people on boats to safety. On the other side of Greece, outside the western city of Patras, volunteers with the Hellenic Red Cross struggled to contain infernos barrelling towards villages and towns. By lunchtime on Wednesday, media footage showed flames on the outskirts of Patras, Greece's third-largest city. Municipal authorities announced a shelter had been set up to provide refuge, food and water for those in need. Seventeen settlements around Preveza, where fires broke out Tuesday, were reported to be without electricity or water. 'Today is also expected to be very difficult as in most areas of the country a very high risk of fire is forecast,' a fire service spokesperson, Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis, said in a televised address. 'By order of the head of the fire brigade, all services nationwide, including civil protection forces, will be in a state of alert.' At first light, 33 water-dumping planes and helicopters scrambled to extinguish fires, he said. Temperatures exceeding 35C (95F) are predicted, according to some meteorologists, to rise further later this week, the height of the summer for Greeks. Record heat and prolonged drought have already turned much of the country tinder-dry, producing conditions ripe for forest fires. A forestry worker was killed on 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. Turkey has been battling severe wildfires since late June. A total of 18 people have been killed, including 10 rescue volunteers and forestry workers who died in July. In southern Albania a wildfire caused explosions after detonating buried second world war-era artillery shells. Officials said on Wednesday an 80-year-old man had died in one blaze south of the capital, Tirana. The Associated Press contributed to this report
BBC News
28 minutes ago
- BBC News
Extreme heat causing wildfires across southern Europe
Emergency services across many areas of southern Europe are tacking wildfires which are continuing to spread due to very high such as Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece have seen highs of more than 40 degrees Celsius in recent days. Record temperatures have also been set in parts of France and of red heat alerts have also been issued, the highest level of warning. What's the latest? In Greece, around 5,000 firefighters are tackling flames after more than 152 new fires broke out across the country in the past 24 hours. Thousands of residents and visitors have been moved to safety from the tourist islands of Chios and in the countries have warned that conditions could remain difficult for the next few Spain, more than 4,000 people were evacuated overnight in the north-western province of León after around 30 blazes were country's government has raised its national emergency response Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said: "We are at extreme risk of forest fires. Please be very cautious." In neighbouring Portugal, firefighters battled three large wildfires after extreme temperatures were recorded in the warned southern regions of the country could hit highs of in Europe, heat alerts remain in place in France, Italy and the Balkans, with temperatures expected to go above 40C in some have warned that climate change is making Mediterranean summers hotter and drier, which is causing longer and more intense fire seasons.
