After weeks of intense firefighting, France has managed to contain the wildfires that devastated the Bordeaux region and the southeast, but Greece remains locked in a struggle against multiple blazes near Athens and on the island of Cephalonia. Strong winds have been fanning the flames for days, dramatically increasing the damage toll.
In Spain, the situation is improving overall, but new outbreaks have flared up in the Zamora region and in the eastern province of Castellón. Most fires there are now contained or extinguished, according to local authorities.
Greek fires fueled by gale-force winds
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greece had faced "extreme weather conditions and winds" that often reached 100 kilometres an hour. The gale-force gusts created "extremely difficult conditions resulting in many cases where aircraft either cannot draw water or cannot carry out drops due to extreme turbulence," Civil Protection Minister Evangelos Tournas explained.
For yet another night, ground crews battled the flames in regions near Athens—Attica, Boeotia and Fokida—under particularly adverse conditions. Shortly before midnight on Saturday, a new front broke out on Cephalonia, an Ionian Sea island. Although winds eased late on Saturday, the greater Athens area, Voiotia and the island of Evia were under near maximum fire risk on Sunday, the civil protection ministry said.
Firefighters worked to keep the fire from approaching the western outskirts of Athens after it scaled a mountain overnight. Villages such as Porto Germeno were evacuated when the fire broke out on Friday, but local authorities report that scores of homes were damaged or destroyed. Earlier in the week, fires on the islands of Crete and Paros affected another 6,000 hectares.
Firefighters have faced dozens of fires daily, and Tournas said on Saturday that the fire department had been "pushed to its limits." Three firefighters died this week in the line of duty—two in Crete and one in the Peloponnese.
Theodore Giannaros, a wildfire meteorologist at the National Observatory, said the fires around Porto Germeno appear to have affected an area of over 10,000 hectares, almost double the original estimate. "Unfortunately, it is highly likely (if not almost certain) that this particular wildfire will be classified as a megafire," he wrote on Facebook. By Sunday, wildfires in Greece had devastated over 12,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land.
Like the rest of the Mediterranean, Greece is hit hard by the climate crisis, with wildfires every summer due to high temperatures, frequent heat waves and drought.
France: largest wildfire since 1949 now contained
In France, 63,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land have been burnt since the beginning of July. The strongest fire in the Gironde region near Bordeaux is now contained, having ravaged 42,000 hectares and destroyed 240 homes. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said "we have returned to a more stable situation," echoing earlier comments by Interior Minister Laurent Nunez. Of the 220,000 people evacuated, 208,000 have been able to return home. It is the country's largest wildfire since 1949.
The fire in the southeastern Var region remains under close surveillance. Firefighters there have managed to stem the advance of a fast-moving blaze that sprang up on Friday, said regional prefect Simon Babre. Strong winds had caused the flames to spread "faster than a galloping horse," he warned, adding that the situation was still "extremely precarious." "We're staying cautious, because the fight goes on," he said.
France has been battling wildfires for weeks after a series of deadly heatwaves that dried up riverbeds and vegetation—extreme weather events scientists have linked to human-made climate change. Across the country, police have arrested 308 people in connection with the fires, of whom 33 are in custody.
Spain: flare-ups in Zamora and Castellón
Spain continues to grapple with multiple wildfires following the lifting of the national state of emergency declared on Thursday. In Zamora, the fire in Fermoselle (11,134 hectares burnt) flared up again on Saturday near Mámoles, but was brought under control thanks to the deployment of seven helicopters and three aeroplanes, and residents have now returned to their homes.
The situation is worsening in León, with a new outbreak in San Tirso, in addition to those in Veguellina (where three villages have been evacuated) and Valdelaloba, the latter showing positive signs. In Cáceres, a lorry that caught fire on the A-66 sparked a wildfire that led to the precautionary evacuation of 150 people in Grimaldo and 65 in nearby areas.
As southern Europe endures another brutal fire season, the regional pattern of extreme heat and drought shows no sign of easing. For a broader look at how the continent is coping, see our midday update for August 2.
