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Canada News.Net
3 days ago
- Climate
- Canada News.Net
Southern Europe battles deadly wildfires amid record heatwave
PATRAS, Greece,/MADRID: Wildfires intensified across southern Europe, with extreme heat, strong winds, and suspected arson driving blazes that have destroyed homes, disrupted transport, and forced thousands of residents and tourists to flee. Nearly 440,000 hectares have burned in the eurozone so far in 2025, twice the average for this time of year since 2006, according to the EU Science Hub's Joint Research Centre. In Greece, flames swept through olive groves, forests, and industrial areas near the city of Patras, igniting a cement factory and halting rail traffic. Authorities evacuated a nearby town of 7,700 residents on August 12 and issued fresh evacuation orders for two nearby villages the next day. Fires also prompted evacuations on the tourist islands of Chios and Cephalonia. "What does it look like? It looks like doomsday," said volunteer Giorgos Karvanis, who traveled from Athens to help in Patras. Spain reported its sixth wildfire-related death this year after a volunteer firefighter was trapped while creating firebreaks near Nogarejas in Castile and Leon. Several others were hospitalized as the national weather agency AEMET warned that almost the entire country faced extreme fire risk. Authorities across the region are warning that unprepared landscapes are making firefighting even more dangerous. Alexander Held of the European Forest Institute said investment in preventative measures like buffer zones and vegetation clearing could save billions in future firefighting and restoration costs. Spanish Environment Minister Sara Aagesen said many fires appeared to be deliberately set. Recent arrests include a firefighter in Avila and a woman in Galicia's Muxia area. Police are also investigating a suspect with burns who is believed to have started a blaze in Cadiz. Not all fires are man-made. Lightning strikes sparked blazes in Spain's Huelva province and in Trancoso, Portugal, where flames reignited previously contained areas. Both incidents prompted evacuations. In Albania, Defence Minister Pirro Vengu described the week as "critical" as 24 major wildfires burned nationwide. Flames reached two central villages, forcing residents to flee with their livestock. "We are going in the middle of two rivers because the fire has arrived… it is like gunpowder," said evacuee Hajri Dragoti. Spain is now in its 10th day of a heatwave, with temperatures peaking at 45 degrees Centigrade (113 degrees Fahrenheit) and expected to continue until August 18, one of the longest on record. In Italy, the health ministry issued extreme heat warnings for 16 cities, with Florence forecast to hit 39 degrees Centigrade (102 degrees Fahrenheit). Pope Leo moved his weekly audience indoors at the Vatican to escape the intense sun.
Dubai Eye
4 days ago
- Climate
- Dubai Eye
Wildfires fanned by heatwave and strong winds rage across Europe
Wildfires caused by arsonists or thunderstorms and fanned by a heatwave and strong winds continued to rage across southern Europe on Wednesday, burning houses, farms and factories and forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists. 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. 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 hospitalised 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. Authorities should make more effort to anticipate and prevent wildfires by creating buffer zones and clearing combustible vegetation, he said. "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 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. The group estimated the cost so far of fires in Spain at 615 million euros. 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 pm, 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, Defence 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 defence ministry said. Flames reached two villages in the centre of the country, forcing villagers to flee, taking their livestock with them. 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 in Florence.
