Forest fires have once again swept through Greece, Spain, and France — Reuters
Greece, Spain, and France continue to battle massive wildfires, which are being fanned by strong winds. The situation is most critical in Greece, particularly near Athens, where large-scale firefighting efforts and resident evacuations are underway.
At the same time, the fire situation has worsened again in several regions of Spain and France, forcing emergency services to step up their response efforts.
This summer, wildfires ravaged Europe following a period of consecutive record-breaking heat waves and a lack of rainfall. Villages in France and Spain were destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes and vacation spots.
Fires, fanned by storm-force winds, have broken out across Greece, where until recently there had been fewer heat waves and a relatively quiet fire season.
In France, a fire in the mountainous southeastern department of Var—which had been brought under control three days earlier—flared up again on Friday, engulfing more than 1,000 hectares in six hours.
Nearly 2,500 people were evacuated overnight, and on Saturday, firefighters called in reinforcements as winds were expected to pick up and complicate firefighting efforts.
On Saturday, two days after the government announced the end of the national state of emergency caused by massive wildfires in the country’s central provinces, Spain continued to battle several wildfires.
The situation worsened in the northern province of León, where, according to authorities, a new fire broke out on Friday evening, another remained active, and a third was spreading rapidly. In the neighboring province of Zamora, the situation with the fire—which had destroyed about 11,000 hectares—improved to the point that 14 evacuated towns were able to resume normal operations, and restrictions were lifted.
In the eastern province of Castellón, the fire in Val d’Uixó was brought under control on its seventh day after burning nearly 10,000 hectares, allowing all evacuated residents to return home. Police said they suspect arson after identifying two separate points of origin.
Major fires in the central regions of Madrid and Ávila, which destroyed more than 70,000 hectares, were brought under control, although a new flare-up near the San Juan reservoir was extinguished on Friday.
Greek authorities issued a state of emergency warning for several areas on Saturday and warned of an extreme risk of wildfires in the Attica and Euboea regions. More than 300 firefighters, 92 fire trucks, heavy equipment, and aircraft continue to battle the fire in the Boeotia region, where more than 200 people from the town of Agios Vasileios, located about 80 kilometers northwest of Athens, had to be evacuated by sea.
Another 12 people fleeing the same fire were evacuated from the beach at Porto Germeno by Greek Coast Guard patrol boats and fire department vessels.
Firefighting efforts also continued overnight in the Argolis and Arta regions.
This was reported by Reuters.
Video: France has acknowledged that it will not be able to extinguish the wildfires near Bordeaux until fall.
More than 300,000 people have been evacuated in France and Spain due to massive wildfires that have engulfed regions of Southern Europe. In southwestern France, in the Gironde region, more than 220,000 residents have left their homes. The fire there has spread across approximately 32,700 hectares.
As a reminder, French passengers who purchased train tickets to the region around Bordeaux will be able to exchange or refund them free of charge. This decision was made due to the large-scale wildfires that have complicated the situation in the area.
