Wildfires erupt across Mediterranean as heatwave worsens

Al Jazeera

6 days ago

Countries across the Mediterranean are battling fast-spreading wildfires and soaring temperatures as a heatwave sweeps through Southern Europe and parts of the Middle East, prompting evacuations and emergency alerts.
Blazes broke out in Greece, Turkiye, France and Syria on Sunday, with several other nations on high alert as forecasters warned that the scorching weather would intensify in the coming days.
From Spain to Italy, authorities urged residents to protect vulnerable people and avoid unnecessary travel during the region's first severe heatwave of the summer.
Emergency teams and ambulances were stationed near popular tourist destinations, while meteorologists warned that extreme heat events – supercharged by climate change – are becoming more frequent and intense.
In western Turkiye, wildfires erupted on Sunday in Izmir province, fanned by strong winds. Firefighters, supported by aircraft, fought to control the blaze. Local authorities said five neighbourhoods in the Seferihisar district were evacuated as a precaution.
Authorities said firefighters have battled more than 600 fires in the drought-hit nation over the past week.
Turkish authorities arrested 10 suspects in relation to wildfires that broke out across the country over the past week, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Friday.
The wildfires killed at least three people in the western coastal province of Izmir.
Firefighters were still trying to control a blaze in the southern coastal area of Dortyol in Hatay province.
Meanwhile, in Greece, more than 160 firefighters, 46 fire trucks and five aircraft were deployed to combat flames in southern Evia.
The blaze, which began late on Friday, burned through forested areas and forced two villages to evacuate, officials said. Fires also broke out near Athens.
France also saw wildfires break out in the Corbieres region of Aude in the southwest, where temperatures soared above 40C (104F). A campsite and a historic abbey were evacuated.
Meteo France placed 84 of the country's 101 departments under orange-level heat alerts on Monday.
In Spain, the national weather agency AEMET reported temperatures reaching 44C (111F) in parts of Extremadura and Andalusia.
'I feel that the heat we're experiencing is not normal for this time of year,' said Diego Radames, a 32-year-old photographer in Madrid, speaking to the AFP news agency. 'Madrid just keeps getting hotter.'
Italy placed 21 cities on red alert, including important ones, such as Rome, Milan and Naples. Emergency rooms reported a 10 percent rise in heatstroke cases, according to Mario Guarino of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine.
Portugal also faced extreme conditions, with the capital, Lisbon, under a red warning until Monday night. Two-thirds of the country was on high alert for wildfires and extreme heat.
On the island of Sicily, firefighters tackled 15 blazes on Saturday alone.
Scientists warn that climate change is intensifying the heat.
'Heatwaves in the Mediterranean have become more frequent and more intense in recent years,' Emanuela Piervitali of Italy's Institute for Environmental Protection and Research told AFP. 'We'll need to adapt to even higher extremes in the future.'