Climate
Part of Europe still plagued by fires
The countries of southern Europe are fighting against fires favored by heat and drought. Four people have already lost their lives.
A helicopter loose water on a forest fire near Larouco in Galicia, in northwestern Spain.
AFP
Greece, Portugal and Spain were still fighting against violent fires on Wednesday, while the situation improved in France and Italy, after tens of thousands of hectares have been ravaged in recent days in southern Europe.
These fires, which left four dead – two in Spain, one in Montenegro, one in Albania – are favored by an intense and prolonged heat wave, associated with a serious drought.
If the firefighters in Greece expected “a very difficult day” on Wednesday, it was mainly due to violent gusts of winds, while they are fighting 23 fires.
“It is certainly the most difficult 24 hours of the period of fighting fire,” said the president of the Union of Firemen officers, Kostas Tsigas. “Just yesterday, 82 fires broke out, a very large number which, combined with strong winds, drought and high temperatures, created enormous difficulties,” he continued.
European mechanism
Wednesday at dawn 33 planes and 4,850 firefighters were mobilized on all fronts in Greece. Athens called on the European mechanism on Tuesday to obtain four additional water bombers, while more than 20,000 hectares have been destroyed by flames since June in the country.
The most disturbing fires are located on the island of Zante, in the Ionian Sea (west), on the island of Chios (in the northeast of the Aegean Sea), in Preveza (west), as well as in the department of Achaia (in the northwest of the Peloponnesis). A new fire broke out near the archaeological site of Vouteni, close to the city of Patras, and threatens forest areas and homes.
On Wednesday, five large fires raged in the north and center of Portugal, fought by more than 1,800 firefighters supported by around twenty aerial means. The brazer that mobilized the most means is that of Transcoso (center) active since Saturday, where gusts of wind have caused new covers of fire.
Near Aldeia Nova, under a thick cloud of smoke covering the streets of the small village of stone houses, the inhabitants lent the firefighters. “It’s scary (…) But we are always ready to help each other,” testified on television Sic Noticias, a farmer.
Since the beginning of the year, forest fires have consumed more than 63,000 hectares, according to data from the National Institute for Forest Management (ICNF).
Spain calls the EU to the rescue
In Spain, if the firefighters still fought against 14 major fires on Wednesday, especially in the North, the situation, however, seemed to be able to improve thanks to an increase in humidity, a little rain and a drop in temperatures. So far this year, the country has deplored 199 fires that destroyed 99,000 hectares, twice as much as last year, but three times less, however, in 2022, the worst year.
In the province of Castille-et-León, seven people were hospitalized after being injured, four of whom are in critical condition, the authorities said.
The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska said on Wednesday evening, said he called on the EU assistance mechanism and asked that two Canadair planes be sent to his country.
Several Balkan countries were still struggling on dozens of fires on Wednesday on Wednesday. In Albania, out of control fires raged in the center and southern country. In Montenegro, a soldier who was participating in the anti-firefighter was dead and another was injured in the accident of their tanker truck.
Maximum vigilance in France
In the south of France, vigilance remained maximum to avoid any reactivation of the gigantic fire which traveled 16,000 hectares before being mastered Sunday in the department of Aude. But heat heat alerts have been launched in the country’s center-east knocked out by an intense heat wave.
The situation improved on the fire front, fire on the sides of the volcano, the Vesuvius, which had projected clouds of smoke over Naples (south) having been mastered after five days.
Several homes fueled by the wind were reported on Wednesday in Türkiye on Wednesday. The Minister of Agriculture reported the death of a forest worker in the accident of his tanker truck in the Osmaniye region (south), bringing the number of victims killed to the Forest Fires since mid-July to fifteen. The firefighters were fighting against a new home in Canakkale (west), along the Strait of Dardanelles.
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