Wildfires Scorch Greece for 2nd Day, Thousands Evacuated
Fires have burned houses, farms and factories and prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists since Tuesday.
Dozens of people have been taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation since Tuesday, public broadcaster ERT reported. Some 13 firefighters have been treated for burns and other injuries, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told a televised briefing on Wednesday.
Nearly 5,000 firefighters assisted by 33 aircraft were deployed from dawn to contain the flames stoked by winds and hot, dry conditions near Patras, on the tourist islands of Chios and Zakynthos and in at least three inland spots.
"Today, it will be another very difficult day, as the wildfire risk for most of the country's regions will be very high," Vathrakogiannis said. Temperatures were forecast to reach 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 Fahrenheit) in some places.
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 near Patras on Wednesday.
"What it looks like? It looks like doomsday. We came from Athens with our volunteer association Kleisthenis, we can't do anything more. May God help us and help people here,' said volunteer firefighter Giorgos Karavanis, who was working on the fire near Patras.
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 island of Chios, the coast guard used boats to take people to safety on Tuesday as flames reached the shores.
Spain, Portugal, Türkiye and the Balkans have also battled wildfires in recent days as a heatwave pushed temperatures over 40 C (104 F) across parts of Europe. In Albania and Montenegro, wildfires have destroyed houses and possessions since last week.
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Al Arabiya
5 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Thousands battle Greece wildfires as heatwave intensifies in Europe
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 Neighboring 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 neighboring homes, injuring eight people. Authorities have evacuated residents in parts of central and southern Albania, but easing weather conditions in neighboring 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 defense 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 kilometers (nearly two square miles), firefighters said.
Asharq Al-Awsat
7 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Wildfires Fanned by Heatwave and Strong Winds Rage Across Europe
Wildfires caused by arsonists or thunderstorms and fanned by a heatwave and strong winds wreaked destruction across southern Europe on Wednesday, burning homes and forcing thousands of residents and tourists to flee. Fire has affected nearly 440,000 hectares (1,700 square miles) 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 Center. 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, 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. 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 hospitalized 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. He was the sixth person to die this year in wildfires in Spain. Others include two firefighters in Tarragona and Avila, according to emergency services. Working in unprepared landscapes puts firefighters' lives at risk, said Alexander Held, a senior expert in fire management at the European Forest Institute, adding authorities should prepare by creating buffer zones and clearing combustible vegetation. "Take an industrial building and imagine there would be no fire detectors, no sprinkler systems, no fire protection doors and no escape routes – firefighters would just refuse to go in, but in our landscape we expect them to do this," Held said. Investing 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) a year in forest management could save 9.9 million hectares - an area the size of Portugal - and 99 billion euros spent on fighting fires and restoration work afterwards, according to Greenpeace. SUSPECTED ARSON Spanish Environment Minister Sara Aagesen told the SER radio station that many fires across the country were thought to be the work of arsonists due to their "virulence". A male firefighter was arrested on Tuesday for fires started in the Avila area north of Madrid two weeks ago, while police said on Tuesday they were investigating a 63-year-old woman for allegedly starting fires in Galicia's Muxia area in August. Police have also identified a suspect who is believed to have suffered burns to his hands after starting a small fire in a beachfront development in the southern coastal Cadiz area, Europa Press reported. Thunderstorms have caused other fires. On Tuesday, shortly after 5 p.m., Andalusia's fire department was flooded with calls by residents reporting a fire caused by a lightning strike on a chestnut and oak forest in Los Romeros, north of the city of Huelva. The fire prompted the evacuation of around 250 residents but was largely controlled by Wednesday morning. A blaze in Trancoso in Portugal that has been burning since Saturday got worse during the night as a lightning reignited an area that was thought safe, the civil protection service said. In Albania, Defense Minister Pirro Vengu said it was a "critical week", with several major wildfires burning across the country. Some 10,000 firefighters, soldiers and police emergency units struggled with a total of 24 wildfires on Wednesday, the defense ministry said. Flames reached two villages in the center of the country, forcing villagers to flee, taking their livestock with them. "We are going in the middle of two rivers because the fire has arrived," said Hajri Dragoti, 68, from Narte, who fled with his wife taking a cow, a donkey and a dog. "We can't do anything, it is like gunpowder." 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.
Saudi Gazette
a day ago
- Saudi Gazette
Greece battles wildfires as heatwave rages across southern Europe
ATHENS — Firefighters are battling several wildfires in Greece as a scorching heatwave wreaks havoc across southern Europe. In the past 24 hours alone, more than 152 new fires have broken out across Greece - and thousands of people have been evacuated. Around 4,850 firefighters are engaged in a multi-front battle to contain the flames. At least three people have died in Spain, Albania and Turkey, with dozens more, inlcuding firefighters, taken to hospiitals with smoke inhalation and burns. Temperatures surpassed 40C in several locations earlier this week, with record temperatures hitting France and Slovenia. In Greece, thousands of people have been evacuated from the tourist islands of Chios and Zakynthos. In the western Peloponnese, flames swept into the city of Patras overnight, destroying homes, businesses and vehicles. On Zante, three separate fire fronts spanning more than 15km (9 miles) remain uncontained. Damage has been reported to homes, tourist facilities and farmland. At least 13 firefighters have been treated for burns and other injuries, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said on Wednesday, warning the conditions could become even more challenging in the coming days. "Today, it will be another very difficult day, as the wildfire risk for most of the country's regions will be very high," Vathrakogiannis said. Rescue boats have been evacuating beachgoers trapped by advancing flames on Chios and authorities have requested firefighting aircraft from other European Union countries. In Spain, more than 4,000 people were evacuated overnight in the north-western province of León. A volunteer firefigher died in the same area. An equestrian centre employee also died after suffering severe burns in Tres Cantos, near Madrid, where winds over 70km/h (43mph) drove flames near homes, forcing hundreds to flee. The Spanish government has raised its national emergency response level. "We are at extreme risk of forest fires. Please be very cautious," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said. Elsewhere in Europe, heat alerts remain in place in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and the Balkans, with temperatures expected to soar above 40C (104F) in some regions. Slovenia reported its warmest ever night, with temperatures in one port not dropping below 28C. One child died of heatstroke in Italy on Monday, where temperatures of 40C are expected to hit later this week. Red heat alerts were in place for at least 10 Italian cities, including Rome, Milan and Florence. A four-year-old Romanian boy, who was found unconscious in a car in Sardinia was airlifted to a hospital in Rome but died due to irreversible brain damage, reportedly caused by heatstroke, medical authorities told AFP. France's Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said hospitals were braced for fallout from the country's second heatwave in just a few weeks. In Montenegro, a soldier died and another was seriously injured when their water tanker overturned while battling flames n the hills north of the capital, Podgorica. In Portugal, firefighters battled three large wildfires, including a large blaze in Trancoso in the centre of the country. Turkey has brought several major fires under control, including in Canakkale and Izmir, after hundreds were evacuated and the Dardanelles Strait and Canakkale airport were closed. Parts of the UK are sweltering in its fourth heatwave of the year, with temperatures hitting 33C and amber and yellow heat health alerts in place for all of England. Two grassfires broke out in the capital on Tuesday, one in Ealing and another in Wanstead Flats, burning more than 17 acres combined. Scientists warn global warming is making Mediterranean summers hotter and drier, fuelling longer and more intense fire seasons. — BBC
