Wildfires erupted across several European countries on Saturday, including Greece, Turkey, and France, as southern regions struggled to contain multiple blazes following a prolonged heatwave.
In Turkey, where firefighters have battled more than 600 wildfires over the past week amid severe drought, authorities confirmed that a forestry worker injured in Izmir province had died from his wounds. The blaze, which began about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of the coastal resort city of Izmir, had already claimed the lives of an 81-year-old bedridden man and a 39-year-old forestry worker on Thursday.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said the fire was brought under control on Friday evening, along with six other forest fires mainly in western and central Turkey. However, firefighters continued efforts on Saturday to contain a separate blaze in the southern coastal area of Dortyol, near the Syrian border.
Although Turkey has mostly avoided the intense heatwaves that swept southern Europe, strong winds have fueled the fires, complicating containment efforts.
In France, national weather service Meteo-France declared on Saturday that the punishing heatwave that began on June 19 officially ended on Friday. Lasting 16 days, it matched the duration of France’s deadly 2003 heatwave. Nevertheless, the first major wildfires of the season broke out on Friday in the southern departments of Bouches-du-Rhône and Hérault.
Authorities were forced to close portions of the A9 motorway during the first weekend of the summer holiday season, leading to traffic jams up to 10 kilometers long in both directions. Emergency crews distributed water to stranded motorists baking under the intense sun.
In Mireval, near the southern city of Montpellier, strong winds fanned a blaze that forced firefighters to evacuate around 10 residents.
“It was very frightening, especially between 4:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.,” said Lorette Gargaud, 46, a local resident. “The air was unbearable to breathe. There was a lot of smoke in the village, you couldn’t see anything anymore, and large ashes were falling from the sky.”
In Greece, a 52-year-old man was arrested on the island of Evia, accused of sparking a fire while clearing brush from a private plot. The fire devastated part of the island between Friday evening and Saturday morning, according to state broadcaster ERT.
Greek firefighters remained on high alert Saturday amid soaring temperatures and strong winds, which are forecast to persist across much of the country.
SR
