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Wildfires rage on in Southern Europe as new heatwave spreads
🇳🇴 Norway /Disasters & Emergencies

Wildfires rage on in Southern Europe as new heatwave spreads

From Aftenposten · () Norwegian

Translated from Norwegian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News From a news agency Ongoing story
  • Firefighters are making progress against wildfires in Spain, allowing some evacuated residents to return home.
  • However, new evacuations are occurring along France's fire-ravaged west coast as a heatwave intensifies.
  • Spain faces temperatures up to 40 degrees Celsius, increasing fire risk despite some containment efforts.

Spanish firefighters are reporting progress in battling devastating wildfires, with some evacuated residents now able to return to their homes. However, the situation remains critical as a new heatwave sweeps across the country, exacerbating the risk of further blazes.

The development has turned. We are beginning to see the light at the tunnel in the fight against these fires.

— Pedro SánchezSpain's Prime Minister, expressing cautious optimism about the wildfire situation.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed cautious optimism, stating, "The development has turned. We are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel in the fight against these fires." Despite this, he warned of challenging days ahead as temperatures in Spain are forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius, coupled with low humidity and increasing winds. The Spanish meteorological agency, Aemet, has issued warnings of "very high or extreme" fire risk across nearly the entire country.

In France, the situation is different, with ongoing evacuations along the west coast due to persistent fires. Hundreds of thousands have already been displaced across both Spain and France. In Spain, evacuation orders for 13 municipalities were lifted, and the interior ministry reported that 63,000 people had been evacuated, with over half from the Madrid region. Around 4,000 residents in Toledo were able to return home on Monday.

I have never seen anything like it in my twenty years in service. This has no precedent.

— Javier GarcíaA firefighter describing the unprecedented intensity of the wildfires in Ávila province.

Firefighter Javier García, leading a brigade of 40 battling a blaze in the province of Ávila that has consumed 500 square kilometers, described the intensity as unprecedented in his 20 years of service. "I have never seen anything like it in my twenty years in service. This has no precedent," he told AP. The extreme conditions have forced a change in tactics, prioritizing saving lives over direct confrontation with the flames. "Now it's lives first, then homes, then the forest," García explained. While no fatalities have been reported, nearly 80,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since the fires began last week.

Now it's lives first, then homes, then the forest.

— Javier GarcíaExplaining the shift in firefighting tactics due to extreme fire conditions.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Aftenposten in Norwegian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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