As Europe enters one of its most devastating forest fire seasons in modern history, France and Spain reported tentative progress containing massive blazes on Thursday, even as new infernos ignited across the continent, bringing deadly consequences to Greece, Portugal, and Turkey.
Over the past week, extreme wildfire conditions have forced hundreds of thousands of people across the Mediterranean to flee their homes, among them A-list Hollywood actor George Clooney, his wife Amal Clooney, and their family, who were forced to evacuate their southern French estate earlier this week.
Climate scientists have repeatedly warned that this season’s unusually intense fire activity is directly tied to human-caused climate change. Rising regional temperatures have dried out vegetation across the continent, turning vast forested areas into tinderboxes that allow wildfires to spread faster and burn hotter than historical records indicate, drastically increasing the risk of extreme fire emergencies for European communities.
In southwest France, more than 220,000 people have been evacuated from a massive wildfire burning west of Bordeaux that has burned more than 42,000 hectares of land — an area larger than the entire island of Malta. Fire officials reported Thursday that they are “reasonably optimistic” the massive blaze has stopped spreading, a boost from light overnight rain that dampened smoldering hotspots across the fire zone. Marc Vermeulen, chief of the regional firefighting service, noted that active hotspots had dropped from six to three since dawn, calling the development a “tipping point” in the week-long battle. However, crews remain on high alert for re-ignitions from embers that have persisted through previous lulls in fire activity.
To date, the Bordeaux fire has destroyed more than 200 homes and claimed the lives of two firefighters, who were trapped in their truck by rapidly spreading flames last week. For local residents, the disaster extends far beyond the active fire front. Nina Rosazza, who operates a metal factory in the Arcachon Basin near Bordeaux, called this the “start of the end of the fire” but warned it is only the “start of the crisis.” She added that the damage to local tourism, the natural environment, and the regional landscape will amount to a long-term catastrophe for the community.
Smaller active fires are still burning across other parts of southern France, including a blaze near Brignoles that forced the Clooney family to evacuate their property on Wednesday. In a letter shared with the Brignoles mayor, the couple shared that they did not yet know if their home would survive the fire, but emphasized that they are part of the local community and are committed to helping rebuild the area once the threat passes.
Across the border in Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced Thursday he was lifting the state of emergency declared for a major wildfire that threatened communities near the capital, Madrid. Regional officials confirmed that the fire no longer has any active burning fronts, allowing most of the more than 60,000 people evacuated during the peak of the crisis to return to their homes. However, the country continues to face extreme fire risk: in the western Avila region, an inferno that has been burning since last week has already burned 50,000 hectares of land, making it the largest wildfire recorded in Spain since official record-keeping began in 1961. A new heatwave sweeping across Spain this week has prompted official warnings that dry conditions could reignite contained fire zones near Madrid. On Wednesday, a new wildfire broke out near the Spanish-Portuguese border in Fermoselle, forcing more than 600 local residents to evacuate immediately.
In Greece, the wildfire crisis has already turned deadly, with three firefighters killed while battling active blazes across the country. Two firefighters on the island of Crete were trapped when shifting wind patterns flipped the direction of a fast-moving fire, and a third collapsed and died while fighting a blaze on the Greek mainland near Gythelo. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned that the country faces “difficult days” ahead as summer heat persists and the peak of the annual wildfire season gets underway. On Crete, a major overnight fire near the resort village of Agia Galini forced 8,000 residents and tourists to evacuate, with 300 firefighters deployed to contain two separate active blazes. Local mayor Maria Lioni said the fire is believed to have destroyed residential homes and killed livestock, but the full extent of the damage is still being assessed. Daniela Schmidt, an Austrian tourist on the island, told AFP she and her family were “quite scared” as flames swept across their part of the island overnight. The family was forced to evacuate straight from the beach, still wearing their bathing suits, because they could not return to their hotel to collect belongings.
In northern Portugal’s Valpacos region, nearly 800 firefighters are working to contain a rapidly spreading forest fire, according to the country’s civil protection service. Five people have suffered minor injuries in the fire, including three firefighters and one police officer.
In Turkey, firefighting crews are battling active blazes near some of the country’s most popular tourist destinations, including the coastal region of Antalya and the Dardanelles strait. Agriculture Minister Ibrahim Yumakli reported that 105 of the 110 wildfires that ignited across the country in recent days are now contained, with only five active blazes remaining. Turkey’s forestry agency said it is running intensive ground and air firefighting operations along the country’s fire-prone coastal corridor, stretching from Antalya to Alanya and from Mugla to Fethiye.