Europe battles wildfires as extreme heat wave grips the continent
Firefighters across France and in central England struggled against multiple fires Friday, Aug 14 as a new wave of record-breaking heat baked a swath of Europe, their task further complicated by exceptionally parched landscapes.
With France experiencing its driest year ever, a new fire raced through woodlands overnight in the Landes region on the south-west coast. The blaze forced more than 500 people to evacuate their homes in the town of Luglon, as hundreds of firefighters were deployed to the area, the regional administration said Friday.
It's one of several fires scorching forests around France this week, including in normally cooler and wetter regions in the north and Brittany. A historic fire devoured forests near Bordeaux last month and pushed a quarter of a million people from their homes.
Meanwhile, efforts to contain a wildfire in Germany were complicated by unexploded World War II munitions, and shifting winds in Croatia spread flames deeper into a coastal suburb and forced more than 1,000 people to flee.
UK wildfires come as London records its hottest day of the year
After the UK recorded its hottest day of the year on Thursday, wildfires raced across the West Midlands and saw several houses burned to the ground. They have been "one of the most significant" incidents the region's fire service has ever dealt with, chief fire officer Simon Tuhill said.
Some 1,017 wildfires have been recorded in England and Wales this year, according to data from the National Fire Chiefs Council. The fires came on the hottest day of the year, when temperatures reached 38.1 degrees Celsius (100.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in west London.
In France, temperatures on Thursday approached 41 degrees Celsius in several areas, from Aquitaine in the south-west to the Rhone river valley in the east, according to the national weather service, and were forecast to reach similar levels Friday before dropping over the weekend.
The historic temperatures are linked to human-caused climate change, and are hitting countries more designed for long cold seasons and ill-equipped for this sort of heat, with limited air conditioning.
Firefighters battle forest fire in Germany
All 1,800 residents of the village of Gey in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia state were evacuated after a wildfire in the nearby Hürtgen forest threatened to reach their homes. Nearly 300 hectares of forest were ablaze on Friday morning, local authorities said.
Unexploded ordnance from World War II in the forest hampered firefighting efforts, German news agency dpa reported. Explosions could be heard as the munitions detonated during the fire, forcing firefighters to stay out of the area for safety.
The fire advanced to within 300 metres of Gey, which sits on the edge of the forest near the Belgian border. Overnight, a shift in wind direction raised the risk that the flames could reach Gey by morning, prompting officials to order the initial evacuation. The cause of the blaze remains unknown, and authorities have not ruled out further evacuations in the area.
Hundreds of personnel have been deployed to battle the fire, with the German army sending tanks and firefighting helicopters providing air support.
Fire in Croatia leaves 14 hospitalised
In Croatia, 14 people were hospitalised, of whom seven remained in life-threatening condition early Friday, from a fire that raged overnight near the coastal town of Omis and forced more than 1,000 people to evacuate their homes.
The fire erupted late Thursday in an Omis suburb and quickly spread because of strong wind. Public broadcaster HRT said the blaze came close to the town's centre, and parts of Omis were left without electricity, while many cars were burned.
Croatian media published photos from a crowded sports hall in Omis where people crammed onto beds and the floor. Witnesses told HRT that people were jumping into the sea after boats also caught fire.
Firefighters put out the blaze by Friday morning, as other crews in planes headed further south towards the Peljesac peninsula, where another wildfire broke out overnight.
Firefighters keep Albania's largest wildfire from spreading to homes
Albania has been battling dozens of wildfires in recent weeks, with 11 active fires reported across the country on Friday.
The largest fire is in the Gure-Lure area, where the perimeter near residential homes has been brought under control, eliminating the risk of the flames spreading to houses. Three people have been prosecuted over the fire that engulfed Lura National Park, suspected of failing to take necessary measures to protect the territory under their responsibility from fire, authorities said.
Meanwhile, in northern Greece, more than 300 vacationers and residents were evacuated by sea on Thursday after a wildfire swept through a pine forest and threatened seaside homes, authorities said.
