A heat wave is sweeping through Europe, bringing temperatures of around 40 degrees in many places. In many southern countries, firefighters are fighting major fires.
Athens – On the southern French Atlantic coast, the fire brigade has been fighting two large forest fires for more than a week. The flames continued to spread on Wednesday night, but only by 300 hectares, according to the prefecture responsible for Gironde.
A total of 20,600 hectares of land burned near Landiras and Teste-de-Buch south of Bordeaux. That is slightly less than the area of the city of Stuttgart. French President Emmanuel Macron is expected on site on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, with strong winds and local drought, fires are also causing problems in other parts of France. In Brittany, more than 1700 hectares burned in a large forest fire near Brasparts. Hundreds of people were evacuated from the fire.
Situation slightly better at the fire in north-east Athens
The major fire in north-east Athens has been partially brought under control. However, an all-clear could not be given. “The situation is a little better,” said the spokesman for the Greek fire brigade, Ioannis Artopoios, on the Greek news channel Skai. The emergency services are now trying to “circle” the numerous sources of fire in order to then completely extinguish them, he added. Numerous fire-fighting aircraft and helicopters are still in use.
The fire broke out on Tuesday afternoon for unknown reasons. Because of the strong winds, the flames spread quickly and penetrated inhabited areas. Numerous houses were damaged. Three firefighters and nine residents have been injured and taken to hospital with respiratory problems, according to state broadcasters.
Forest fires and scorching heat keep Portugal in suspense
According to the government, the forest fires of the past few weeks in Portugal, a holiday destination, are also due to carelessness and intentional arson. Interior Minister José Luis Carneiro said more than 50 people had been arrested by mid-July this year on suspicion of being responsible for fires in the forest. According to the authorities’ findings, only 23 percent of all fires in Portugal have purely natural causes, he said. According to Carneiro, 13 percent involved intentional arson. According to the nature conservation authority ICNF, fires in Portugal have already destroyed almost 60,000 hectares in just over six and a half months this year – more than twice as much as in the whole of the previous year.
Heat becomes normal
The World Weather Organization (WMO) in Geneva is convinced that heat waves like the ones in Europe now will be normal in the summer months. “Such episodes are becoming more frequent and the negative trend will continue until at least 2060, regardless of the success of our climate protection efforts,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
It could also get hotter in Europe. Governments need to do a lot more to mitigate climate change, Taalas said. “I hope these events are a wake-up call for governments and that in democratic countries they will have consequences in the next elections.”
Great Britain registers record temperature
The situation was dramatic on Tuesday because of the heat even in Great Britain. In London, the fire brigade had to deal with severe fires and declared a major damage situation. In Coningsby in the eastern English county of Lincolnshire, 40.3 degrees were measured in the afternoon, according to preliminary data from the Met Office – a British record. Before this week it was 38.7 degrees, measured in Cambridge in 2019.
At least 16 firefighters were injured fighting fires in London on the hottest day in Britain’s history. Two emergency services were temporarily treated in clinics, as the British capital’s deputy fire chief Jonathan Smith told Times Radio. The fire brigade worked under unprecedented conditions. There were more than 1,000 emergency calls, most of them because of the heat. Smith warned of more fires despite significantly lower temperatures on Wednesday. The ground is still completely dry.
Hundreds have been evacuated in Tuscany
In Tuscany, Italy, more than 100 firefighters continued to fight a large forest fire near the city of Lucca on Wednesday. Around 500 residents in the area of the municipality of Massarosa were brought to safety from the flames, the fire brigade said on Wednesday morning. A video from the night showed the flames blazing near a settlement and eating up trees. Regional President Eugenio Giani tweeted on Wednesday morning that some gas tanks had exploded. Some sides of the fire front would have stretched because of strong winds.
According to the fire brigade, there are now more than 100 emergency services on site. Four fire-fighting aircraft and a helicopter support the firefighting from the air. The operation has been running since last Sunday. Other fires have also been reported from other parts of Tuscany. In Florence, according to the mayor, there was a fire in an uninhabited area on a green area. Residents in the Tuscan capital should keep their windows closed. dpa
