Forest fire advances toward residential areas in NW Türkiye
According to Turkish broadcaster NTV, 11 firefighting aircraft and 250 personnel have been deployed to contain the blaze.
Forest fires broke out across multiple regions of Türkiye in the past days, including Antalya, Canakkale, Edirne, Manisa, Hatay, Bolu, and Izmir.
Local media reported on Wednesday that one forestry worker lost his life, and four fellow workers were injured when their firefighting vehicle lost control on the way to combat the forest fire in the Hasanbeyli district of Osmaniye.
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Roundup: Heat, drought, negligence: drivers of Europe's 2025 wildfire crisis
ROME, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- A prolonged summer of extreme heat and drought has pushed vast parts of Europe into a severe wildfire crisis, triggering mass evacuations, claiming lives and inflicting heavy damage on forests, farmland and infrastructure. European Commission monitoring data show the scale of the emergency: about 439,568 hectares have burned so far this year, more than double the 19-year average for this point in the season. WREAKING HAVOC Across the Mediterranean and into parts of central and Eastern Europe, the human toll has been mounting. In Spain, several fatalities and thousands of evacuees were reported as blazes swept through Galicia, Castilla y Leon and other regions. In Castilla y Leon alone, about 9,000 residents were moved to safety as multiple municipalities came under threat. In recent days, Spanish authorities also confirmed the deaths of volunteer firefighters in the line of duty. Greece has faced dozens of simultaneous outbreaks, with western Achaia among the worst-hit areas. Evacuation orders were issued for towns near Patras as strong winds, gales and extreme heat fanned flames across islands and mainland regions. Hospitals, care homes, homes, businesses and warehouses were damaged, and some facilities required emergency clearance. In Albania, at least one civilian was killed and more than 10 others injured as fires swept southern towns, forcing large-scale evacuations to higher ground. Local officials reported entire neighbourhoods and dozens of homes damaged or destroyed. Thousands of emergency personnel -- including firefighters, soldiers, police and volunteers -- have been deployed to battle dozens of active blazes. Romania, one of the worst-hit European Union (EU) countries this summer, has seen more than 120,000 hectares reduced to ashes. Fire crews have been engaged in persistent operations in sensitive areas such as the Danube Delta, where rekindled embers and shifting winds complicate containment, requiring daily aerial and ground interventions. Portugal has recorded one of the largest burned areas, with provisional data showing about 74,931 hectares consumed this year and a sharp rise in recent weeks. Authorities reported hundreds of wildfires, deploying tens of thousands of personnel, hundreds of vehicles and dozens of aircraft. Officials warned that forecast dry thunderstorms and strong winds could worsen conditions. Dozens of firefighters have been injured on duty. In Italy, the agricultural confederation reported nearly 57,000 hectares of forest and farmland burned since early 2025, about 60 percent above the two-decade average. Officials warned that fires around Vesuvius National Park threaten unique natural and agricultural resources. Neglected forests without regular maintenance were cited as particularly vulnerable, with recovery for destroyed stands expected to take more than a decade. CLIMATIC, HUMAN FACTORS Scientists and disaster specialists attribute the surge in extreme fires to a combination of climatic and human factors. "The main scientific explanation is linked to climate change," said Bogdan Antonescu, an atmospheric physics researcher at the University of Bucharest, Romania. Global warming dries vegetation and prolongs droughts, creating more favourable conditions for fires in previously less-affected areas, he said. In the Danube Delta and other peat-rich landscapes, prolonged arid conditions make containment harder, with winds able to reignite smouldering trunks and embers, Antonescu added. "Climate change does not directly start fires, but it creates the ideal conditions for them to ignite and spread," said Kostas Lagouvardos of the National Observatory of Athens. Efthymios Lekkas, a disaster management expert in Greece, noted that about 90 percent of wildfire ignitions in Greece are tied to human activity, ranging from negligent barbecues and discarded cigarettes to deliberate arson and unsafe land clearing. He urged stronger prevention, stricter penalties and public awareness alongside improved firefighting capacity. In Italy, climatologists have pointed to shifting circulation patterns that allow the African anticyclone to reach farther north, storing heat in the Mediterranean and raising sea temperatures, a factor that can intensify extreme events. "Higher sea temperatures are probably the most important factor in triggering extreme weather events," said Marcello Miglietta of Italy's Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, warning that stored ocean heat can release energy suddenly, fuelling storms and inland convective activity. Brane Gregorcic, a meteorologist at the Slovenian Environment Agency, said atmospheric warming is making heatwaves more intense and rainfall patterns more erratic, leading to cycles of drought followed by heavy rain, a combination that hampers both prevention and recovery. POLICY PRESSURES The European Commission's Joint Research Centre warns the season is far from over. Fire-weather indices and seven-day forecasts show "extreme to very extreme" danger across large parts of the continent, with seasonal models indicating above-average temperatures could persist into September in parts of France, northern Italy and Hungary, while rainfall is expected to remain below normal in much of southern and central Europe. This combination raises the risk of an extended season. Experts and officials say the response must blend urgent tactical support, such as international aerial and ground assistance, better equipment and night patrols, with medium- and long-term strategies including improved forest and land management, stronger prevention and monitoring systems, stricter enforcement against arson and negligence, and efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions that are worsening heat and drought conditions. "The Mediterranean has become one of the world's most critical climate change hotspots," Lagouvardos warned, stressing that while firefighting saves lives and property in the short term, only sustained investment in prevention, planning and climate policy can reduce the human and economic costs of future fire seasons.
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Latvia's farm sector faces big losses from summer floods: farmers' organization
RIGA, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Latvia's agricultural sector is facing significant losses due to this summer's extreme weather, the farmers' organization Zemnieku Saeima warned on Thursday. The total damage could reach several hundred million euros, Maira Dzelzkaleja-Burmistre, a representative of the group, told the LETA news agency, adding that crop quality has deteriorated sharply, making it harder for farmers to meet contractual obligations. On Aug. 5, the Latvian government declared a state of emergency in agriculture until Nov. 5, citing prolonged rainfall and flooding that have severely disrupted the harvest. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, wet conditions since May have flooded fields in many regions, blocking machinery access, delaying harvests, and cutting yields. As of July 10, preliminary losses were estimated at 63.89 million euros (74.37 million U.S. dollars), with oats, summer wheat, winter wheat, peas, and perennial grasslands among the worst affected crops. The ministry said farmers are still submitting damage reports, meaning the affected area and financial toll will continue to grow. Actual losses could be substantially higher, as not all farmers have reported the damage. (1 euro = 1.16 U.S. dollar)
The Star
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Wildfires burn nearly 75,000 hectares in Portugal this year
LISBON, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 75,000 hectares of land have burned in Portugal since the start of the year, with more than half of the total destroyed in just the past three weeks, according to provisional data released Thursday by the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF). The burned area is Portugal's second-largest since 2017. The ICNF reported 5,998 rural fires to date, which have consumed 74,931 hectares of land - 50 percent scrubland, 40 percent forest, and 10 percent farmland. In the past 24 hours alone, flames have ravaged over 11,000 hectares. Compared with the same period last year, the number of fires has risen 72 percent, while the area burned is nine times larger. Satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System rank Portugal as the third most affected country in the European Union this year, behind Spain and Romania. At 2:50 p.m. Thursday, the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection reported 46 active wildfires in mainland Portugal. The government has maintained a national alert status since Aug. 2 due to extreme wildfire risk. With over 120 municipalities in the North, Center, and Algarve regions now at maximum danger level, the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere said authorities are considering extending the alert. Interior Minister Maria Lucia Amaral warned conditions will deteriorate further on Friday, with dry thunderstorms and strong convective winds expected - the same weather factors that fueled Portugal's deadly 2017 wildfires. She said the alert allows for increased night patrols to curb new outbreaks, noting the rare occurrence of 22 consecutive days of heatwave and major wildfires - a situation last seen in 2003 and 2005. So far this year, 213 firefighters have been injured in the line of duty, including 112 in the past three weeks, according to the Portuguese Firefighters League.
