Firefighters in Greece have fought over 200 blazes in the past 48 hours, officials say, as southern Europe bakes in a late summer heatwave that has shattered numerous all-time records and triggered red alerts across France and Italy. Wildfires in Greece, which have claimed 20 lives in the past three days, have been raging out of control just north-west of Athens and in the far north-east. Authorities have warned that the heat and strong winds risk fueling more devastation and have urged extreme vigilance.
Firefighters had been dispatched to tackle 355 fires over the past five days, Greece’s climate crisis and civil protection minister, Vassilis Kikilias, said on Wednesday, including 209 that had started in the previous 48 hours. He stated that conditions had been the worst since Greece began collecting weather data and issuing a fire risk map. Large areas have been placed at level five – the highest fire risk – seven times this year, double the total for 2021 and seven times that of 2012.
A wildfire that broke out on Tuesday and roared up a mountain toward the Parnitha national park north-west of Athens has shrouded the capital in smoke and ash and forced the evacuation of neighborhoods, nursing homes, and a migrant camp. Near the north-eastern port city of Alexandroupolis, near the Turkish border, authorities are trying to identify 18 bodies, thought to be migrants, discovered on Tuesday as firefighters battled the country’s largest fire. A supreme court prosecutor has ordered an investigation into whether organized groups of arsonists were operating in the region after government officials said the fire had started in 15 different places, creating a vast front.
Southeast Europe Swelters in Looming Heatwave DisastersFrance, Germany, Sweden, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania, and the Czech Republic have sent firefighters and equipment, including planes and helicopters, to assist Greece in fighting the blazes, the EU announced. Across the border in Turkey, authorities temporarily closed the key Dardanelles Strait shipping lane to allow helicopters and planes to scoop up water to douse a fire that has raged in the area for two days. Authorities in Çanakkale province evacuated an elderly care home and over 1,250 people from nine villages and closed down a motorway. More than 80 people were treated in nearby hospitals for the effects of smoke inhalation.
France’s meteorological office reported the country’s highest average temperature for late summer – measured across 30 weather stations – since it began keeping records in 1947, as all-time local records tumbled across the south. The southern city of Toulouse recorded its highest ever temperature on Wednesday at almost 41C (105.8F), as did dozens of towns and villages further east, including Narbonne, Carcassonne, and Millau, with several nearing or even surpassing 43C.