Category Archives: Wildfires

Greek prime minister says ‘worst is yet to come’ as wildfires rage around Athens – video

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Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday that emergency services faced a difficult night ahead as wildfires north of Athens leaped back to life and westerly winds were set to strengthen.

'Unfortunately the worst is yet to come and the night ahead seems menacing. Tomorrow we expect strong western winds in many areas of our country,' the Greek prime minister said in a special televised address.

Mitsotakis urged people to comply with evacuation orders and avoid unnecessary trave. Authorities warned of more blazes on Friday as temperatures hovered around 40C.

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The California Gold Rush town consumed by wildfire – in pictures

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The northern California town of Greenville was devastated by the Dixie fire, currently the largest wildfire in the state. The town dates back to the Gold Rush era with buildings more than a century old. Firefighters did all they could against the flames but the fast-moving blaze left many structures in ashes

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The photo that has come to define Turkey’s wildfires

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Image of boy watching firefighting plane in smoke-filled skies has been shared widely on Turkish social media

A little boy ready for a swim stops on the edge of the clear water, his gaze distracted by a firefighting plane flying low through a rust-red sky. For many, the photo – apparently taken by a Russian holidaymaker in Antalya last week – has come to symbolise the destruction wreaked by the ferocious wildfires that have consumed Turkey’s Mediterranean coastline over the past eight days.

More than 180 fires have killed eight people, devastated vast swathes of pine forest and agricultural land. On Wednesday fire crept closer to a thermal power plant as international firefighting teams used helicopters and water cannon and dug trenches to slow the spread of the flames.

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Greece fires: 150 houses destroyed by wildfires as monks refuse to leave stricken island

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Villages on Evia are evacuated as blaze rages across the island, and fires also threaten suburbs of Athens and historic Olympia

At least 150 houses have been destroyed by a raging fire that surrounded a monastery and a dozen villages on the Greek island of Evia, one of over 100 blazes burning in the country.

Firefighters were also continuing to battle a blaze near Athens on Thursday morning, while the mayor of Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, pleaded for help as flames threatened the site.

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‘I came home to fight for my land’: First Nations battle Canada blaze that displaced them

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First Nations leaders seek more influence on how forests are managed, and the right to conduct prescribed burns

When Tyler Vander Griend saw thick black smoke rising above the village of Lytton in western Canada, his first instinct was to run towards the inferno.

But the flames were moving too fast, and Vander Griend, a lanky youth from the nearby Kanaka Bar First Nation, was forced to watch helplessly as fire consumed the community.

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Greece: thousands of residents flee as wildfires reach outskirts of Athens – video

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Thousands of residents in the northern outskirts of Athens have been forced to leave their homes as a forest wildfire reached residential areas. The blaze sent a huge cloud of smoke over Athens and prompted multiple evacuations near Tatoi, 13 miles to the north. 

It comes as Greece experiences the worst heatwave since 1987, according to local authorities. Temperatures have reached 42C in parts of the Greek capital

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Turkey appeals for help to fight wildfires as heatwave continues

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Wildfires break out across much of southern Europe, with temperature reaching 45C in Greece

Turkey has launched an international appeal for help in taming fires raging across the country that have killed eight people in recent days, as what has been described as one of the worst heatwaves in decades intensifies in south-east Europe.

Following criticism of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after it emerged that Turkey has no firefighting planes, authorities in Istanbul were promised water-dropping planes from the European Union. The country is battling deadly wildfires along its coastline for a sixth day.

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Aerial footage of Pescara wildfire as residents and tourists evacuated – video

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At least five people were wounded and holidaymakers evacuated after wildfires devastated a pine wood near a beach in Pescara, Italy, as one of the worst heatwaves in decades swept across south-east Europe.

About 800 people were evacuated from their homes, including a convent of nuns, after a fire broke out in the 53-hectare (131-acre) Pineta Dannunziana nature reserve, as the fires continue to be active on different fronts

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Tourists evacuated from Pescara as Italy records more than 800 wildfires

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Wildfires burn across Italy, Spain, Greece and Turkey in heatwave bringing temperatures above 40C

At least five people have been wounded and holidaymakers evacuated after wildfires devastated a pine wood near a beach in Pescara, Italy, as one of the worst heatwaves in decades swept across south-east Europe.

A five-year-old girl was taken to hospital but her condition is not believed to be life-threatening, according to reports.

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Tourists evacuated from burning Med resorts as fires rage across southern Turkey – video report

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Holidaymakers have been evacuated from beaches by rescue boats in Turkey after wildfires threatened hotels is several resort towns.

Six people have died and more than 500 needed hospital treatment in Turkey’s Mediterranean towns from fires that have raged across the country since Wednesday

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Tourists rescued from burning Med resorts by flotilla of boats

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Six dead from wildfires raging across Turkey, Italy and Greece as temperatures hit 40C

Holidaymakers have been evacuated from beaches by rescue boats in Turkey after wildfires threatened hotels in the Aegean resort of Bodrum.

Coastguard vessels were joined by private boats and yachts to bring the tourists to safety, according to Turkish media on Saturday. Videos posted online showed people wheeling their suitcases along the road while smoke from forest fires billowed into the sky.

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In the shadow of Paradise, nearby residents make uneasy peace with fire

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Smoke, closed businesses and constant worry have changed life for those living with disaster on their doorstep

The Dixie fire was consuming vast swaths of land in the Sierra Nevada foothills, but in the nearby valley city of Chico, California, it was a typical summer day.

The temperature had already climbed past 102F and a dusting of smoke was pushing air quality to unhealthy levels. Yet at the One Mile city park on Wednesday, college students lay in the shade of oak trees, kids splashed around Sycamore Pool and cyclists raced by.

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‘We went through hell’: friends taking food to firemen find road blocked by Turkish wildfire – video

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When restaurant owner Murat Aktan and his friends hit the road to take hot meals to firefighters battling wildfires in the Turkish Mediterranean town of Manavgat on Thursday evening, they had no idea of the ordeal which was awaiting them. After they distributed food to the fire crews, they turned back but found the road ahead of their car blocked by sheets of flame from burning trees and undergrowth. Video filmed by Aktan showed their car almost engulfed by fire as they desperately backed away from the flames and falling embers. The four friends eventually drove to safety and returned home after their ordeal. 'We went through hell,' Aktan told Reuters

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Turkish fires sweeping through tourist areas are the hottest on record

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Thousands of holidaymakers evacuated from Aegean Sea resorts as country fights more than 50 blazes

The heat intensity of wildfires in Turkey on Thursday was four times higher than anything on record for the nation, according to satellite data passed on to the Guardian.

At least four people were killed by blazes that swept through the tourist regions of Antalya and Muğla, forcing thousands of holidaymakers to be evacuated from their hotels by a flotilla of boats.

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Wildfires raging across southern Turkey force residents to flee – video

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Strong winds have fanned multiple wildfires in southern Turkey, killing at least three people and sending many others to hospital as homes burned down in the blazes. A wildfire that broke out on 28 July near the Mediterranean coastal resort town of Manavgat, in Antalya province, had largely been contained, but another fire that started early Thursday and swept through the district of Akseki kept firefighters engaged.

Wildfires are common in Turkey’s Mediterranean and Aegean regions during the arid summer months, although some previous forest fires have been blamed on arson

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Wildfires raging across south-west Sardinia force evacuations – video

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Firefighters are working to put out wildfires that have spread quickly across parts of south-western Sardinia, destroying 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of forest and forcing 1,500 people to be evacuated from their homes. On Sunday the EU sent four firefighting planes, including two Canadair planes provided by France, to support 11 aircraft working to extinguish the fires raging close to 13 towns. Efforts have been hampered by strong and hot winds

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Climate crisis ‘a hammer hitting us in the head’, says Oregon governor as wildfires rage

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California’s biggest fire destroys multiple homes while other blazes batter the American west

As California’s biggest wildfire destroyed multiple homes, flames racing through rugged terrain, and as numerous other blazes battered the American west, the governor of Oregon said the climate crisis was “like a hammer hitting us in the head”.

Related: ‘Smoke shading’ from other fires helps fight against Oregon Bootleg blaze

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‘There’s nothing left in Lytton’: the Canadian village destroyed by wildfire – picture essay

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The fire that devastated Lytton is still burning – and First Nation residents say the lack of help from the British Columbia government has been ‘sickening’

Vince Abbott had an afternoon of fishing planned – he was going angling for spring salmon in the nearby river – when he heard shouts of panic and felt a searing heat.

After three punishing days of record-breaking temperatures in the Canadian village of Lytton earlier this month, Abbott was accustomed to the discomfort of the dry, sometimes overpowering, summer heat. But this felt different.

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