Spain has recorded its third death from wildfires this week while Greece began beating back a blaze threatening its third-largest city as a heatwave that began last week continues to sweep through Southern Europe.
Spanish authorities reported the death on Thursday of a 37-year-old volunteer firefighter who sustained severe burns while battling flames in the northwestern Castile and Leon region, taking the toll to three after earlier reported deaths there and near Madrid this week.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his condolences in an online post.
“The wildfire situation remains serious, and taking extra precautions is essential. Thank you, once again, to all those working tirelessly to fight the flames.”
The extreme summer heat, which scientists say human-driven climate change is lengthening and intensifying, has fuelled blazes and stretched firefighters across Southern Europe, including in Portugal and the Balkans.
The fires have particularly scorched Spain, devouring more than 157,000 hectares (388,000 acres) this year – more than triple the area burned during the same period in 2024.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes this week in Spain because of the fires, mostly in Castile and Leon.
Spanish investigators said Thursday they had arrested four people suspected of starting forest fires, taking the total number of accused this season to 30.
France announced it would send two water bombers to Spain, which has also appealed to the European Union for aircraft to reinforce hard-pressed firefighting teams battling on several fronts, notably in the northwest.
Greece, which had requested assistance from the EU to battle its wildfires, gained ground against a major blaze that had closed in on the western port city of Patras.
Firefighters faced “scattered” pockets of flames, but the fire was “still active” in the eastern outskirts of Patras, fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said. At least 15 firefighters had been hospitalised or received medical attention for burns, smoke inhalation or exhaustion, he added.
Some 600 ground crews and nearly 30 water bombing aircraft were deployed from dawn in all locations, said Vathrakogiannis, but gentler winds were helping the firefighting effort.
Major outbreaks also stretched emergency services on the tourist island of Zante, the Aegean island of Chios and near the western town of Preveza.
Citing data from the EU’s Copernicus satellite monitoring programme, the National Observatory of Athens said those fires and the Patras blaze had burned more than 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres).
Authorities said three men, aged 19 to 27, had been detained on suspicion of starting some of the fires around Patras on Tuesday.
EU assistance sent to several countries
Portugal mobilised more than 1,900 firefighters against four major blazes, with one in the central area of Trancoso having razed an estimated 14,000 hectares (34,595 acres) since Saturday.
Another front that broke out on Wednesday in the mountainous central Arganil area occupied more than 800 firefighters.
“The flames were enormous … it was frightening,” a woman in the village of Mourisia told Sic Noticias television as she gazed at a slope enveloped in thick smoke.
The Balkans appeared to have overcome the worst of an exceptionally strong heatwave that worsened its traditional fire season, destroying homes and prompting the evacuation of thousands.
Greece sent assistance to neighbouring Albania, joining an international effort to combat dozens of wildfires. An 80-year-old man died in a blaze south of the capital, Tirana, officials said on Wednesday.
Residents of four villages were evacuated in central Albania near a former army ammunition depot. In the southern Korca district, near the Greek border, explosions were reported from buried World War II-era artillery shells. Authorities said dozens of homes were gutted in a central region of the country.
In Turkiye, a forestry worker was killed on Wednesday while responding to a wildfire in a southern region, officials said. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said the worker died in an accident involving a fire truck that left four others injured.
Turkiye has been battling severe wildfires since late June. A total of 18 people have been killed, including 10 rescue volunteers and forestry workers who died in July.
The EU’s civil protection agency said it responded to requests for assistance this week from Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Albania, sending firefighting planes and helicopters from other member states.
The agency said it had already activated assistance 16 times amid wildfires this season, as European countries have been hit by “a high number of catastrophic wildfires.”
Source: Aljazeera
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