Paris: Strong winds and hot, dry weather thwarted the efforts of French firefighters on Saturday to douse a massive wildfire that spread through pine forests. BORDEAUX For the fifth consecutive day in the region, one of several wildfires in Europe this week.
The worst fire is in Portugal, where the pilot of a firefighter died on Friday after his plane crashed during an operation in the northeast. It was the first fire in Portugal this year, but this week more than 160 people were injured in fires and hundreds had to be evacuated.
Fire season has turned out to be longer than normal in parts of Europe this year after an unusually dry, hot spring that left soil dry has been credited to officials. Climate change,
As the worst French fires moved closer to inhabited cities, some of the 11,000 people evacuated in the region described fear and uncertainty about what they would find when they returned home. Images shared by firefighters showed flames engulfing a cluster of pine trees and black smoke spreading across the horizon.
Charles Lafourcade, who oversees France’s firefighting operation, told reporters that firefighters on Saturday focused on putting the villages at risk and using fire engines to save as many homes as possible.
Nearly 3,000 firefighters supported by water dumping planes are struggling Explosion in Southern FranceThe president said, and Greece sent firefighting equipment to help.
The regional emergency service said on Saturday that French firefighters had managed to douse the deadliest fire overnight near the Atlantic coast resort of Arcachon. But it said “difficult meteorological conditions” thwarted efforts to contain the biggest fire in the region, which began in the town of Landiras, south of the Valley of Bordeaux vineyards. Regional prosecutors suspect arson.
Both fires have burned at least 9,650 hectares (23,800 acres) in recent days.
In Portugal, more than 1,000 firefighters worked with civilians desperate to save their homes after a long week of battling multiple blazes across the country. The fire has been brought under control due to higher than normal temperature and drought conditions.
Portuguese state television RTP reported on Friday that the area burned this year – more than 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) – has already exceeded the total for 2021. Most of it got burnt in the last week.
Across the border, Spain was struggling to contain several fires, two of which burned some 7,400 hectares (18,200 acres).
In southern Andalusia, 3,000 people were evacuated from fire-prone villages near the village of Mijas in the province of Málaga. About 200 firefighters, supported by 18 aircraft, tried to douse the fire. Officials were probing the reasons for this.
On the sixth day, firefighters were also trying to douse a fire triggered by a lightning strike in the west-central Las Herdes region. About 400 people from eight villages were evacuated on Friday when flames reached their homes and threatened to spread to nearby Monfrag National Park.
Croatia and Hungary have also battled wildfires this week, as have California and Morocco.
Many European countries are experiencing extraordinary heat this month, which is also to blame for climate change.
Temperature-related deaths have increased in Spain this week amid a heat wave above 40 °C (104 °F) in many regions. According to Spain’s Carlos III Institute, which records temperature-related deaths daily, there were 237 deaths due to high temperatures from July 10-14. This was compared to 25 temperature-related deaths last week.
Portuguese officials said the July national record high of 47 C (117 F) hit the northern city of Pinhao on Wednesday.
Britain’s Met Office weather agency has issued its first “red warning” of extreme heat for Monday and Tuesday, when temperatures in southern England could reach 40 C (104 F) for the first time.
The British government was holding an emergency response meeting on Saturday to plan for higher temperatures. People in the UK have already been warned not to travel unless absolutely necessary and schools and nursing homes have been told to take extra precautions.
“All the heat waves studied in Europe so far are warming,” said Robert Voutard of the Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute at the Sorbonne University. “Until greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to zero, heat waves will continue to intensify, become more frequent and longer-lasting.”
In Turkey – the scene of devastating wildfires last summer – local media reported fires in the western province of Izmir and Hatay between the Mediterranean Sea and the Syrian border. Helicopters, planes and hundreds of firefighters brought the fire under control.
Last year, fires triggered by strong winds and scorching temperatures ravaged Turkey’s Mediterranean and Aegean regions, killing at least eight people and drawing sharp criticism from the government for its inadequate preparedness and response.
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