Portugal faces first fatality as wildfires rage across Southern Europe amid heatwave
Further east, Greece was still fighting blazes on one Aegean island, but the situation had improved for several other southern European countries.
Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced the death of the former mayor of the eastern town of Guarda, Carlos Damaso, who had been fighting the fires.
The president said he had cut short his holidays and returned to work, joining a meeting of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority.
For days now, several thousand firefighters have been battling fires in various parts of the country.
Portugal, like Spain, has invoked the EU's civil protection mechanism to ask for help, requesting four firefighting aircraft to use until Monday, its presidency said on X.
In Spain, three people have died in the fires, including two young volunteers in their thirties who lost their lives trying to extinguish a blaze in the Castile and Leon area.
One of them, Jaime Aparicio Vidales, was buried in the town of Quintanilla de Florez, Zamora province, Castile and Leon, yesterday.
Much of the country has already endured nearly two weeks of high temperatures, and yesterday the searing heat spread to Cantabria, which had so far been spared.
Temperatures in the northwestern region were forecast to pass 40C, said Aemet, the national weather agency.
The risk of fires yesterday and over the weekend through to Monday was 'very high or extreme in most of the country', it added.
'Nothing left to burn'
Spain has endured a devastating wildfire season, with 157,501 hectares (389,193 acres) reduced to ashes since the start of the year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
Yet that figure is still short of 2022, when more than 306,000 hectares went up in smoke.
On Thursday, France sent two water-bombing planes to help try to douse the flames in the northwestern region, where a dozen fires were still raging.
The railway line between Madrid and the northwestern region of Galicia remained closed, as well as 10 main roads.
Marco Raton, 35, works on a pig farm in Sesnandez de Tabara near one of the fires in Castile and Leon that forced several thousand people to flee their homes.
He and his friends did not think twice when they saw the fire arrive on Tuesday, he said.
They grabbed 'everything we had—backpacks, fire bats and garden hoses—put on appropriate clothing and went over to help', he added.
'As soon as we arrived, we started seeing burned people being evacuated, a car on fire, a burning tractor, warehouses, garages,' he told AFP.
He felt 'helpless', he added.
Raton had thought there was 'nothing left to burn' after devastating fires in the same region in 2022. Now he was convinced that 'this will continue to happen to us year after year'.
The mayor of Ferreruela, Angel Roman, called for fire breaks of cleared brush to be established around the villages. 'The countryside, if it's clean, can stop the fire,' he said.
France on red alert
Meteorologists in France, meanwhile, put the southern department of Aude—where a devastating fire has already killed one person and injured several others—on red alert.
The fire, which broke out on August 5, has still not been fully extinguished and temperatures are expected to reach 40C there on Saturday.
'We are in a situation of extreme vigilance,' said Lucie Roesch, general secretary of the local prefecture.
Further east, lower temperatures and reduced winds were helping to improve the situation in Greece and the Balkans, where rain was forecast in many parts of the region.
Firefighters remained in Patras, Greece's third-largest city, monitoring scattered outbreaks.
The most active blaze was still on the Mediterranean island of Chios, in the northeastern Aegean Sea, where eight aircraft have been deployed to try to douse the flames.
The risk of fire remained high in the Attica region that includes the capital, Athens, and the southern Peloponnese peninsula, the Civil Protection agency warned yesterday.
In Albania, initial government estimates said thousands of cattle had been killed and 40 homes destroyed in just three days of wildfires. — AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
2 days ago
- Malay Mail
Portugal faces first fatality as wildfires rage across Southern Europe amid heatwave
MADRID, Aug 16 — Portugal suffered its first death yesterday from the fires raging there, as Spain's weather agency warned of a 'very high to extreme risk' of more wildfires there during Europe's intense heatwave. Further east, Greece was still fighting blazes on one Aegean island, but the situation had improved for several other southern European countries. Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced the death of the former mayor of the eastern town of Guarda, Carlos Damaso, who had been fighting the fires. The president said he had cut short his holidays and returned to work, joining a meeting of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority. For days now, several thousand firefighters have been battling fires in various parts of the country. Portugal, like Spain, has invoked the EU's civil protection mechanism to ask for help, requesting four firefighting aircraft to use until Monday, its presidency said on X. In Spain, three people have died in the fires, including two young volunteers in their thirties who lost their lives trying to extinguish a blaze in the Castile and Leon area. One of them, Jaime Aparicio Vidales, was buried in the town of Quintanilla de Florez, Zamora province, Castile and Leon, yesterday. Much of the country has already endured nearly two weeks of high temperatures, and yesterday the searing heat spread to Cantabria, which had so far been spared. Temperatures in the northwestern region were forecast to pass 40C, said Aemet, the national weather agency. The risk of fires yesterday and over the weekend through to Monday was 'very high or extreme in most of the country', it added. 'Nothing left to burn' Spain has endured a devastating wildfire season, with 157,501 hectares (389,193 acres) reduced to ashes since the start of the year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). Yet that figure is still short of 2022, when more than 306,000 hectares went up in smoke. On Thursday, France sent two water-bombing planes to help try to douse the flames in the northwestern region, where a dozen fires were still raging. The railway line between Madrid and the northwestern region of Galicia remained closed, as well as 10 main roads. Marco Raton, 35, works on a pig farm in Sesnandez de Tabara near one of the fires in Castile and Leon that forced several thousand people to flee their homes. He and his friends did not think twice when they saw the fire arrive on Tuesday, he said. They grabbed 'everything we had—backpacks, fire bats and garden hoses—put on appropriate clothing and went over to help', he added. 'As soon as we arrived, we started seeing burned people being evacuated, a car on fire, a burning tractor, warehouses, garages,' he told AFP. He felt 'helpless', he added. Raton had thought there was 'nothing left to burn' after devastating fires in the same region in 2022. Now he was convinced that 'this will continue to happen to us year after year'. The mayor of Ferreruela, Angel Roman, called for fire breaks of cleared brush to be established around the villages. 'The countryside, if it's clean, can stop the fire,' he said. France on red alert Meteorologists in France, meanwhile, put the southern department of Aude—where a devastating fire has already killed one person and injured several others—on red alert. The fire, which broke out on August 5, has still not been fully extinguished and temperatures are expected to reach 40C there on Saturday. 'We are in a situation of extreme vigilance,' said Lucie Roesch, general secretary of the local prefecture. Further east, lower temperatures and reduced winds were helping to improve the situation in Greece and the Balkans, where rain was forecast in many parts of the region. Firefighters remained in Patras, Greece's third-largest city, monitoring scattered outbreaks. The most active blaze was still on the Mediterranean island of Chios, in the northeastern Aegean Sea, where eight aircraft have been deployed to try to douse the flames. The risk of fire remained high in the Attica region that includes the capital, Athens, and the southern Peloponnese peninsula, the Civil Protection agency warned yesterday. In Albania, initial government estimates said thousands of cattle had been killed and 40 homes destroyed in just three days of wildfires. — AFP
Malay Mail
3 days ago
- Malay Mail
Spain counts third wildfire death as Greece gains ground against Patras blaze
MADRID, Aug 15 — Spain on Thursday mourned its third wildfire death this week and Greece began beating back a blaze threatening its third-largest city as an unrelenting heatwave stoked tinderbox conditions in southern Europe. The extreme summer heat, which scientists say human-driven climate change is lengthening and intensifying, has fuelled blazes and stretched firefighters across the region, including Portugal and the Balkans. The fires have particularly scorched Spain, devouring over 157,000 hectares this year — more than triple the area burned during the same period in 2024. Spanish authorities said one person battling flames in the north-western Castile and Leon region had died, taking the toll to three after earlier reporting fatalities there and near Madrid this week. Climate change is fuelling larger, more intense wildfires like those in Spain that can alter upper-atmosphere dynamics and create unpredictable winds, making fire behaviour harder to forecast, said Antonio Jordan Lopez, a wildfire expert at the University of Seville. 'Picture a fire so fierce, so fast, and so unpredictable it seems alive, capable of reshaping the weather around it and leaping across kilometres in a heartbeat,' he added. France announced it would send two water bombers to Spain, which has appealed to the European Union for aircraft to reinforce hard-pressed firefighting teams battling on several fronts, notably in the northwest. Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes this week in Spain because of the fires, mostly in Castile and Leon. Arson arrests 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 spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said. Some 600 ground crews and nearly 30 water bombing aircraft were deployed from dawn in all locations, he said, but gentler winds were helping 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. Authorities said three men aged 19 to 27 had been detained on suspicion of starting some of the fires around Patras on Tuesday. Spanish investigators said Thursday they had arrested four people suspected of starting forest fires, taking the total number of accused this summer to 30. 'It was frightening' 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 on Wednesday in the mountainous central Arganil area occupied more than 800 firefighters. 'The flames were enormous... it was frightening,' a woman in the village of Mourisia told Sic Noticias television as she gazed at a slope enveloped in thick smoke. Although vulnerable and elderly people had been evacuated as a precaution, Antonio Silva refused to leave the village overnight. 'I wanted to be here to help,' said the man in his 70s, his face shielded with a mask. Expecting tough conditions Friday, the government has extended a state of alert until Sunday, Interior Minister Maria Lucia Amaral said. The measures bar access to forest areas, suspend some farm work and ban fireworks. 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 39 Celsius predicted for Florence on the eve of a busy holiday weekend. — AFP
Malay Mail
4 days ago
- Malay Mail
Wildfires rage across Greece and southern Europe amid intense heatwave
PATRAS (Greece), Aug 14 — 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 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
