
Wildfires force over 1,000 evacuations in north-west Spain
Around 400 residents were displaced from Carucedo and surrounding areas, while another 700 fled towns near the UNESCO-listed Las Medulas site.
Regional leader Alfonso Manueco stated investigators believe arsonists deliberately started several fires in Castile and Leon.
Spain's Military Emergency Unit deployed 60 soldiers and 20 vehicles to assist firefighters battling the blazes with aircraft and bulldozers.
Fire crews reported struggling with shifting winds, low humidity and temperatures nearing 40°C as they worked to contain the flames.
The wildfires have also impacted Galicia and Navarre regions during Spain's ongoing heatwave now in its second week.
Authorities warned of extreme fire risk across much of the country with the heatwave expected to persist until at least Thursday.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez praised emergency teams while monitoring the wildfire situation across affected regions. – AFP

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The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Thousands battle Greece fires as heatwave bakes Europe
PATRAS: Greece battled a dozen major wildfires on Wednesday, including one threatening 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 Thousands of firefighters backed by the army deployed across Greece, with fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis saying 'the situation remains difficult' for 'forces waging a tough battle'. 'It's a cocktail of high temperatures, strong winds... and minimal humidity,' the head of civil protection for Western Greece, Nikos Gyftakis, told public broadcaster ERT. AFP journalists 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 12 children from a Patras hospital, Vathrakogiannis said. Eighty elderly people were removed from a retirement home, and local media footage showed the roof of a nearby 17th-century monastery ablaze. 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. Vathrakogiannis said 71 people had received medical care, mostly in the western town of Preveza and the Patras area. 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 dominated the news in Spain, where flames have threatened a world heritage Roman mining site in the northwestern region of Castile and Leon. Regional authorities said almost 6,000 people from 26 localities had been evacuated from their homes, while seven people had been admitted to hospital for burns, including four in critical condition. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said late Wednesday that Spain had asked the European Union for help, including the deployment of two water-bombing planes. He urged European partners to deploy the planes quickly given 'weather forecasts' that could worsen the blazes, telling broadcaster Cadena Ser radio that Spain would also request firefighter deployments if necessary. 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 (244,100 acres) across Spain this year -- more than double the area burned during the same period in 2024. Portugal Neighbouring 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 stretched 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 neighbouring homes, injuring eight people. Authorities have evacuated residents in parts of central and southern Albania, but easing weather conditions in neighbouring 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 defence ministry speaking of a 'heavy loss'. Britain Historically temperate Britain sweated through its fourth heatwave of the summer, with the previously unthinkable prospect of wildfires now a real threat. A blaze in northern England's North York Moors national park was declared a 'major incident' on Wednesday and covered around five square kilometres (nearly two square miles), firefighters said - AFP


The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Three killed in European wildfires as heatwave intensifies
MADRID: Three men died and thousands were forced from their homes on Tuesday as wildfires fuelled by a heatwave scorched southern Europe. Heat alerts were issued in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and the Balkans, with temperatures expected to soar above 40C. The heatwave is another sign of climate change, which is fuelling longer, more intense and increasingly frequent bouts of extreme heat. 'Thanks to climate change, we now live in a significantly warmer world,' Akshay Deoras, a research scientist at the meteorology department in Britain's University of Reading told AFP, adding that 'many still underestimate the danger'. An employee of a Spanish equestrian centre died from his injuries in Tres Cantos, a wealthy suburb north of Madrid, officials said -- reportedly as he tried to save horses. Later, officials in Castile and Leon in northwestern Spain confirmed another man had been killed while fighting fires. And a soldier in the Balkan country of Montenegro died and another was seriously injured when their water tanker overturned while fighting wildfires in the hills north of the capital, Podgorica. A child died of heatstroke in Italy on Monday. The equestrian centre employee was the first fatality from dozens of wildfires that have hit Spain since a heatwave began last week. Hundreds of residents of Tres Cantos fled from the fast-moving blaze, which was contained on Tuesday morning. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X that rescue services were 'working tirelessly to extinguish the fires' and warned: 'We are at extreme risk of forest fires. Please be very cautious.' Saved at 'last second' Elsewhere, about 2,000 people were evacuated from hotels and homes near the popular beaches of Tarifa in Andalusia, southern Spain. The wildfire broke out near where a similar blaze forced evacuations earlier this month. 'We managed to save the residential area at the very last second,' said Antonio Sanz, the Andalusia region's interior minister. In Castile and Leon, dozens of blazes were reported, including one threatening Las Medulas, a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its ancient Roman gold mines. The head of the regional government of Castile and Leon, Alfonso Fernandez Manueco, vowed 'to act quickly and generously' once the fire is over to restore the site 'to its full glory as soon as possible'. In neighbouring Portugal, firefighters battled three large wildfires, with the most serious near Trancoso in the centre of the country. More than 700 firefighters were deployed there. Church bells rang out on Tuesday morning in Mendo Gordo, a hamlet near Trancoso, to sound the alarm as a thick column of smoke rose in the distance, images broadcast on Portuguese television showed. Smoke and greenhouse gas emissions related to forest fires since the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere are among the highest ever recorded, according to the EU climate monitor Copernicus. 'Too hot' Temperature records were broken at four weather stations in southern France on Monday and three-quarters of the country was under heat alerts on Tuesday, with temperatures forecast to top 40C in the Rhone Valley. The Rhone department banned outdoor public events. Temperatures started rising on Friday in France's second heatwave in just a few weeks and could remain high into next week, according to the national weather office Meteo-France. That would make it a 12- to 14-day stretch of extreme heat. 'It's already too hot,' said Alain Bichot, 34, as he sat at a cafe terrace early on Tuesday morning in Dijon in eastern France. 'I would rather just go to the office. At least there is air conditioning there.' Eleven Italian cities, including Rome, Milan and Florence, were placed on red alert on Tuesday due to the heat. In Montenegro, fire crews aided by military personnel were fighting a blaze around Podgorica for a second day when the water truck flipped, killing the soldier, the defence ministry said in a statement. Authorities warned residents to stay indoors due to smoke from a forest fire raging in the hills above Podgorica. Hundreds of soldiers and firefighters were also battling wildfires in Albania, while Greece has requested EU assistance to battle more than 100 wildfires stoked by fierce winds and dry conditions on its territory. Athens has requested four water bombers from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism after evacuating 20 villages in the Achaia region. More than half (52 percent) of Europe and the Mediterranean basin was hit by drought in July for the fourth consecutive month, according to an AFP analysis of European Drought Observatory (EDO) data. Drought levels in the region are the highest on record for the month of July since data collection began in 2012, exceeding the 2012-2024 average by 21 percent - AFP


The Star
8 hours ago
- The Star
Podul batters island's south
Danger alert: Swells from Typhoon Podul battering the Kaohsiung coastline. — AFP Typhoon Podul pounded the country, shutting down businesses in the south, grounding hundreds of flights and knocking out power for tens of thousands of households. Wind gusts of up to 178kph were recorded shortly before the typhoon made landfall in Taitung County yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. One person is missing after he went fishing and was swept away, and 33 have been injured, the National Fire Agency said. More than 7,300 people have been evacuated from their homes, and trees and signs have been toppled, as the storm sweeps across central and southern regions still recovering from last month's storms. 'Kaohsiung, Tainan and Chiayi will become major rainfall hotspots tonight, with increasing rain also expected in Penghu and Kinmen,' CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen told a briefing attended by President Lai Ching-te. 'We are worried about this typhoon,' Kaohsiung fisherman Huang Wei said as he tied down his boat with ropes, hours ahead of Podul making landfall. 'We had already made general typhoon preparations yesterday, but this morning I woke up and saw news reports that the typhoon has intensified to be as strong as the last, (Typhoon) Krathon. 'Last time, the two boats behind us weren't tied properly and hit my boat,' he added as he checked on other vessels. Krathon slammed into Kaohsiung in October, with wind gusts of 162kph. All domestic flights across the island of 23 million people have been cancelled yesterday, and international journeys as well. More than 134,500 households have suffered power outages. High-speed rail services on the west coast have been reduced, while train services in the southeast have been cancelled. Many ferry services have also been suspended, and businesses and schools across the south are closed. More than 31,500 soldiers were ready to assist in rescue and relief efforts, disaster officials said. The CWA expects mountain areas in Kaohsiung and Tainan could be hit with a cumulative 400-600mm of rain from Tuesday to today. Podul has already entered the Taiwan Strait. Typhoon Danas, which hit Taiwan in early July, killed two people and injured hundreds as the storm dumped more than 500mm of rain across the south over a weekend. That was followed by torrential rain from July 28 to Aug 4, with some areas recording more than Taiwan's rainfall of 2.1m for 2024. The week of bad weather left five people dead, three missing and 78 injured, a disaster official said previously. Taiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to October, and scientists have shown that human-driven climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely. Global warming, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels, is not just about rising temperatures, but the knock-on effect of all the extra heat in the atmosphere and seas. Warmer air can hold more water vapour, and warmer oceans mean greater evaporation, resulting in more intense downpours and storms. — AFP