Thousands battle Greece wildfires as heatwave intensifies in Europe

Al Arabiya

2 days ago

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.