Latest news with #JuanCarlosSuarezQuinones
Al Jazeera
18 hours ago
- Climate
- Al Jazeera
Wildfires blaze through parts of Europe as heatwave hits
A new heatwave has gripped parts of Europe, sending temperatures up to 43 degrees Celsius (109.4 degrees Fahrenheit), with wildfires wreaking havoc and forcing evacuations as the impact of global warming is keenly felt on the continent. Firefighters in northwestern Spain struggled on Monday to contain a wildfire that damaged an ancient Roman mining site and forced hundreds of residents to flee. Regional Environment Minister Juan Carlos Suarez-Quinones said the firefighting effort near the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Las Medulas faced 'many difficulties' due to high temperatures and winds of up to 40 kilometres per hour (25 miles per hour). Extreme heat and strong winds caused 'fire whirls'. 'This occurs when temperatures reach around 40 degrees Celsius [104F] in a very confined valley and then suddenly [the fire] enters a more open and oxygenated area,' Suarez-Quinones said. Four people, including two firefighters, have suffered minor injuries, he added. 'We will not allow people to return until safety in their communities is absolutely guaranteed,' Suarez-Quinones told reporters, estimating that about 700 people remained displaced. Authorities said damage to the Roman gold-mining area famed for its striking red landscape in northwestern Spain will be assessed once the fire is fully under control. In the northern part of neighbouring Portugal, nearly 700 firefighters were battling a blaze that started on Saturday in Trancoso, about 350km (200 miles) northeast of Lisbon. The French national weather authority, Meteo-France, placed 12 departments on red alert, the country's highest heat warning, anticipating exceptional heat stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean plains. 'Don't be fooled. This isn't normal, 'it's summer.' It's not normal. It's a nightmare,' agricultural climatologist Serge Zaka told BFMTV. The red alert in France has been issued only eight times since it was created in 2004 after a deadly summer the year before. Three major fires also blazed along the borders with Greece and Turkiye, including one near Strumyani that reignited after three weeks. In Bulgaria, temperatures were expected to exceed 40C (104F) on Monday with maximum fire danger alerts in place. Nearly 200 fires have been reported. Most have been brought under control, localised and extinguished, but the situation remains 'very challenging', said Alexander Dzhartov, head of Bulgaria's national fire safety unit. Hungary on Sunday recorded a new national high of 39.9C (104F) in the southeast, breaking a record set in 1948. Budapest also recorded a city record at 38.7C (101.6F). Wildfires destroyed several homes in Albania as firefighters battled blazes in sweltering conditions on Monday. According to Albania's Ministry of Defence, firefighters and soldiers subdued most of the close to 40 fires that flared up within 24 hours but more than a dozen were still active. In Croatia, about 150 firefighters spent the night defending homes from a blaze near the port city of Split.
Reuters
a day ago
- Climate
- Reuters
Firefighters battle 'fire whirls' in northern Spain
CUBO DE BENAVENTE, Spain, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Extreme heat and strong winds caused "fire whirls" as a blaze burned several houses and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from near a UNESCO-listed national park in northern Spain, authorities said on Monday. Thirteen fires broke out in the north of the Castile and Leon region, with about 700 people told to abandon their homes in half a dozen villages. Four fires were still live, Juan Carlos Suarez-Quinones, chief of environment for the regional government, said on Monday morning. Firefighters had extinguished the other nine. High temperatures on Sunday had caused the so-called fire whirls near Las Medallas park, forcing firemen to retreat and burning some houses in the nearby village, according to Suarez-Quinones. "This occurs when temperatures reach around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in a very confined valley and then suddenly (the fire) enters a more open and oxygenated area. This produces a fireball, a fire whirl," he said. "This explosive and surprising phenomenon was very dangerous. It disrupted all the work that had been done, forcing us to start practically from scratch," he added. Scientists say the Mediterranean region's hotter, drier summers put it at high risk of wildfires. Once fires start, dry vegetation and strong winds can cause them to spread rapidly and burn out of control, sometimes provoking fire whirls. A prolonged heatwave in Spain continued on Monday with temperatures set to reach 42 C in some regions. Domingo Aparicio, 77, was evacuated to a nearby town from his home in Cubo de Benavente on Sunday after a warehouse in front of his home burned down. "How am I supposed to feel? It's always shocking for people close to the catastrophe," he said. Two or three fires may have been started by lightning strikes, Suarez-Quinones said, but there were indications that the majority were the result of arson, which he described as "environmental terrorism". In the northern part of neighbouring Portugal, nearly 700 firefighters were battling a blaze that started on Saturday in Trancoso, some 350 km (200 miles) northeast of Lisbon. So far this year about 52,000 hectares (200 square miles), or 0.6% of Portugal's total area, have burned, exceeding the 2006-2024 average for the same period by about 10,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. Firefighters were also battling blazes in Navarra in northeastern Spain and in Huelva in the southwest, authorities said.
