Third person dies in Spain wildfires, Greece fights blaze near city
The extreme summer heat, which scientists say human-driven climate change is lengthening and intensifying, has fuelled blazes and strained firefighters across the region, including in Portugal and the Balkans.
The fires have particularly scorched Spain, devouring almost 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) this year - more than double the area burned during the same period last year.
Spanish authorities said one person battling flames in the northwestern Castile and Leon region had died, taking the toll to three after earlier reporting fatalities there and near Madrid this week.
France announced it would send two water bombers to Spain, which had appealed to the European Union for aircraft to reinforce hard-pressed firefighting teams battling on several fronts, notably in the northwest.
Regional authorities in Castile and Leon have said almost 6,000 people from 26 localities have been evacuated from their homes.
Greece, which has also requested EU assistance against wildfires, gained ground against a major blaze that had closed in on the western port city of Patras.
Firefighters there faced "scattered" pockets of flames, but the fire was "still active" in the eastern outskirts of the city of 250,000 people, fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said.
Some 600 ground crews and nearly 30 water-bombing aircraft deployed from dawn in all locations, he said, but gentler winds were aiding the firefighting effort.
Major outbreaks also stretched emergency services on the tourist island of Zante, the Aegean island of Chios and near the western town of Preveza.
Citing data from the EU's Copernicus satellite monitoring programme, the National Observatory of Athens said those fires and the Patras blaze had burned more than 10,000 hectares.
State TV ERT said three men aged 19 to 27 had been detained on suspicion of starting separate fires near Patras on Tuesday. Police confirmed one of the arrests.
Meanwhile, Portugal mobilised more than 1,900 firefighters against four major blazes, with one in the central area of Trancoso having razed an estimated 14,000 hectares since Saturday.
Another front that broke out yesterday in the mountainous central Arganil area occupied more than 800 firefighters.
The Balkans appeared to have overcome the worst of an exceptionally strong heatwave that worsened its traditional fire season, destroying homes and prompting the evacuation of thousands.
Albanian firefighters continued to struggle against blazes around the country, with reports of more homes lost overnight.
In neighbouring Montenegro, easing conditions and water-bombing aircraft helped gain the upper hand against wildfires.
Tourist hotspots Rome and Venice were among 16 Italian cities placed on red alert for extreme heat, with peaks of 39C predicted for Florence on the eve of a busy holiday weekend.
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Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Spain, Portugal and Greece fight wildfires as heatwave expected to last for days
Firefighters in Spain, Portugal and Greece are continuing to battle wildfires on a public holiday in all three countries as persistent hot, dry conditions challenged efforts to contain the blazes. Spain is fighting 14 major fires, according to Virginia Barcones, general director of emergency services. Temperatures were expected to climb over the weekend. This recent photo taken from a French Canadair water bomber by the Securite Civile shows a wildfire in Spain (Securite Civile via AP) 'Today will once again be a very tough day, with an extreme risk of new fires,' Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X. The national weather agency AEMET warned of extreme fire risk in most of the country, including where the largest blazes were burning in the north and west. A heatwave which brought temperatures exceeding 40C on several days this month was expected to last until Monday. Fires in the Galicia region forced the closure of several highways. The high speed rail line connecting it to Spain's capital Madrid remained suspended. The fires in Spain this year have burned 158,000 hectares or 610 square miles, according to the European Union's European Forest Fire Information System. That is an area roughly as big as metropolitan London. A fire approaches a farm during a wildfire in Santa Baia De Montes, north-western Spain (Lalo R Villar/AP) In both Spain and Portugal it was the Feast of the Assumption, a major Catholic holiday usually marked by family gatherings and religious processions. In Portugal, nearly 4,000 firefighters were battling fires on Friday. Seven major fires were active. Authorities extended the state of alert until Sunday, amid high temperatures expected to last through the weekend. A wildfire in Greece burned out of control for a fourth day on the island of Chios, prompting several more overnight evacuations. Two water-dropping planes and two helicopters were operating in the north of the island in the eastern Aegean Sea, where local authorities said a lull in high winds was helping firefighters early on Friday. Following a series of large fires in western Greece earlier this week, the fire service was on alert on Friday outside Athens and nearby areas in the south of the country where adverse weather conditions elevated the fire risk. The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew expressed solidarity on Friday with the victims of wildfires in southern Europe during prayers for the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, an important religious holiday for Orthodox Christians.
RTÉ News
a day ago
- RTÉ News
Wildfires blaze across Europe
The EU said today that it is working "non-stop" to support countries battling wildfires raging across European countries. Extreme summer heat, which scientists say human-driven climate change is exacerbating, has fuelled blazes in Greece, Portugal, Spain and the Balkans. Heat alerts have also been issued in Italy, France and England - and a climate expert today warned that we can expect these fires to move further north over time. In some regions, firefighters are making strong gains - Turkey has reported a substantial reduction in blazes - while others, notably Spain and Greece, are still in the grip of a lethal and escalating crisis. Spain has has been battling the blazes for ten days. Fire has affected nearly 440,000 hectares in the eurozone so far in 2025, double the average for the same period of the year since 2006, according to the EU Science Hub's Joint Research Centre. Spain today mourned its third wildfire death this week, and activated an EU emergency facility to get help to tackle the blazes. While Greece has been beating back a blaze threatening its third-largest city Patras as an unrelenting heatwave stoked tinderbox conditions in southern Europe. Authorities across European countries have cited multiple causes for the massive fires, including careless farming practices, improperly maintained power cables and summer lightning storms. But there have also been multiple reports of arson, including in Spain and North Macedonia, where rogue developers have been accused of deliberately starting blazes. Lessons for Ireland Climatologist John Sweeney, who is Emeritus Professor of Geography at Maynooth University, said that the Mediterranean Basin "is a major hotspot for climate change globally, as desiccation in summer months makes it vulnerable to ongoing fire damage". He told RTÉ News that "we can expect to see this spreading north as time goes on", adding that there are "some signs of that already in France", where there have been sporadic outbreaks of wildfire. The wildfires ravaging Europe are "part and parcel of what we would expect to see" with "Sahara-like conditions being transformed and translocated further north in Europe" - a process which is driven almost exclusively by man-made climate change. Prof Sweeney said that this has relevance for Ireland, where we already see some wildfires, although mostly gorse-related. But he urged that we should not rule out the potential risk posed in this jurisdiction by reduced or insufficient forest cover. EU response, Spain asks for help The EU said today that it is doing all it can to stop the blazes across the south of the continent. "We continue non-stop to work on the support of affected countries," spokeswoman Eva Hrncirova said. "Fighting wildfires is mainly the task for the member states, but we are here to help them and to assist them with our civil protection mechanism," she added. Under the mechanism, EU member states offer help to other countries on the continent and Brussels pays for the operations. So far during the current fire season it has been activated 16 times. Spain is availing of this support for the first time, and is being given two water bomber aircraft to help fight blazes in the worst hit areas. The Spanish government has also raised its national emergency response level, preparing additional support for regional authorities overseeing multiple evacuations and highway closures. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed condolences after the death of a firefighting volunteer in the hard-hit Castile and Leon region north of Madrid, where thousands have been displaced by evacuations. "The wildfire situation remains serious, and taking extra precautions is essential," Mr Sanchez wrote in an online post. "Thank you, once again, to all those working tirelessly to fight the flames." Evacuation centres have been filled to capacity in parts of central Spain, as the most severe fires pushed northward into more rural areas, where some residents hosed the walls of their homes to try to protect them from fire. Isabel Moreno, a meteorologist based in Madrid. said that at a time of year when temperatures of 32C might be expected they are climbing to 40C. But she told RTE's Today with Colm Ó Mongain: "We know how to manage these kind of temperatures". Greece Greece has been hard hit, as wildfires intensified right across southern Europe, after a night-long battle to protect the perimeter of the country's third-largest city. Greek firefighting resources have been stretched thin by relentless battles against multiple outbreaks following weeks of heatwaves and temperature spikes across the Mediterranean, and there is no sign of things easing up. Outside the port city of Patras, firefighters struggled to protect homes and agricultural facilities as flames tore through pine forests and olive groves. Tall columns of flames exploded behind apartment blocks on the outskirts of the city, while dozens of vehicles were torched as flames swept through a nearby impound lot. "Today is another very difficult day with the level of fire risk remaining very high across many parts of the country," a fire service spokesman said. 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. On the island of Chios, exhausted firefighters slept on the roadside following a night-long shift. Aircraft rotated between blazes on the western Greek mainland, the Patras area and the island of Zakynthos. Balkans: Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro Despite being under extreme pressure itself, Athens sent assistance to neighbouring Albania, joining an international effort to combat dozens of wildfires in the hard-hit nation. An 80-year-old man died in one blaze south of the capital Tirana, officials said. 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 Second World War-era artillery shells. Authorities said dozens of homes were gutted in a central region of the country. Meanwhile, law enforcement officials in North Macedonia cited indications of arson, motivated by rogue developers. Firefighters also struggled to contain a blaze at a nature reserve outside the capital Skopje. The European Union has rushed aid to fire-hit countries, including non-member states, with ground crews and water-dropping aircraft, with much of it being concentrated on Montenegro, where major wildfires continued to burn in rugged areas near the capital Podgorica. "Natural disasters know no borders," Ljuban Tmusic, head of Montenegro's civil protection agency, said. "In Montenegro the resources we have … are clearly not enough." Turkey A forestry worker was killed yesterday while responding to a wildfire in southern Turkey, officials said. The Forestry Ministry said the worker died in an accident involving a fire engine that left four others injured. Turkey has been battling severe wildfires since late June, and a total of 18 people have been killed, including 10 rescue volunteers and forestry workers who died in July. However, things look better here than they do for Spain or Greece, with the government saying that most of the blazes have been contained, including a large fire in the northwestern province of Canakkale that forced hundreds to flee from their homes. 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. They have since reopened. France, England In France, which is recovering from massive recent fires in the southern regions, temperatures of up to 42C are expected for the third consecutive day. Officials issued weather alerts giving local authorities discretion to cancel public events and cordon off areas with high fire risks. Heat health alerts have also been extended into next week for much of England after the fourth heatwave of the summer brought thunderstorms and showers. The UK Health Security Agency said yellow warnings will now be in place in Yorkshire and Humber, the East and West Midlands, London, the South East and South West and East of England until 6pm next Monday, 18 August. The warnings mean significant impacts on health and social care services are possible due to high temperatures, including a potential rise in deaths among the elderly or those with pre-existing health conditions. Alerts had been previously due to end at 6pm yesterday. Gerard Mills is a physical geographer based at UCD. He told RTÉ's Today with Colm Ó Mongain that no evaporation occurs in cities, which pushes up temperatures. People die in cities because of the heat usually die in their homes, he said, because they become too hot. Going forward, he urged the use of a dual approach, reducing temperatures inside homes, and also in outdoor areas.
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Irish Examiner
Greece, Spain and Portugal race to contain wildfires as EU steps up help
Fire crews in Greece, Spain and Portugal are racing to contain wildfires, taking advantage of calmer winds that slowed the blazes' advance. Much of southern Europe, however, remains at high risk under hot, dry conditions on Thursday. A drop in wind speeds allowed firefighting aircraft in the three hard-hit countries to step up water drops, concentrating on existing fire zones rather than chasing fast-moving fronts. A helicopter drops water on a wildfire in Larouco, north-western Spain (Lalo R Villar/AP) Authorities warned that extreme temperatures are likely to persist. Spanish authorities reported the death of a 37-year-old volunteer firefighter who sustained severe burns in an area north of Madrid this week. It was the third reported death in Spain because of the recent fires. Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in the region and still cannot return. In Greece, the fire service said a major blaze outside the southern port city of Patras has been contained on the outskirts of urban areas after a large-scale deployment. Local residents and volunteers work together to put out an encroaching wildfire in Larouco, north-western Spain (Lalo R Villar/AP) Three people have been arrested in connection with the fire, which authorities said may have been deliberately set. The European Union's civil protection agency said it responded to requests for assistance this week from Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Albania, sending firefighting planes and helicopters from other member states. The agency said it had already activated assistance 16 times amid this summer's wildfires as European countries have been hit by 'a high number of catastrophic wildfires'. The number of activations for 2025 already matches the total for wildfires during the entire 2024 fire season, it said.
