- TIMBERBIZ.COM.AU - A La Une - 17/Aug 23:26

Wildfires in Europe

Wildfires intensified across southern Europe on Wednesday with a round-the-clock battle to protect the perimeter of Greece’s third-largest city and at least three deaths reported in Spain, Turkey and Albania. Sources: Associated Press and NBC News Outside the Greek port city of Patras, firefighters struggled to protect homes and agricultural facilities as flames tore through pine forests and olive groves. Tall columns of flames rose behind apartment blocks on the outskirts of the city, while dozens of vehicles were torched as flames swept through a nearby impound lot. “Today is another very difficult day with the level of fire risk remaining very high across many parts of the country,” Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis said. At least 15 firefighters were hospitalized or received medical attention for burns, smoke inhalation or exhaustion, he added. As water-dropping planes and helicopters swooped overhead, residents joined the effort, beating back flames with cut branches or dousing them with buckets of water. Firefighting resources were stretched thin in many affected countries as they battled multiple outbreaks following weeks of heat waves and temperature spikes across the Mediterranean region. On the Greek island of Chios, exhausted firefighters slept on the roadside following a night-long shift. Aircraft rotated between blazes on the western Greek mainland, the Patras area and the island of Zakynthos. Athens also sent assistance to neighbouring Albania, joining an international effort to combat dozens of wildfires. An 80-year-old man died in one blaze south of the capital, Tirana, officials said Wednesday. Residents of four villages were evacuated in central Albania near a former army ammunition depot. In the southern Korca district, near the Greek border, explosions were reported from buried World War II-era artillery shells. Authorities said dozens of homes were gutted in a central region of the country. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed condolences after the death of a firefighting volunteer in the hard-hit Castile and León region north of the capital, Madrid, where thousands have been displaced by evacuations. “The wildfire situation remains serious, and taking extra precautions is essential,” Sánchez wrote in an online post. “Thank you, once again, to all those working tirelessly to fight the flames.” Evacuation centres were filled to capacity in parts of central Spain, with some spending the night outdoors on folding beds. The most severe fires pushed northward into more rural areas, where some residents hosed the walls of their homes to try and protect them from fire.