Category Archives: Wildfires

Race to extinguish blazes across Europe as fire weather breaks records

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Figures show hot, dry, windy conditions in EU are 43% more severe than the average over last 20 years

Fire weather in the EU has broken records for severity for this time of year, data shows, as firefighters race to extinguish blazes across the Mediterranean.

Inflamed by carbon pollution, the hot, dry and windy weather across the EU from the start of the year until the end of July has been 43% more severe than the average for the same period over the last two decades, data from the European Forest Fire Information Service (Effis) shows.

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Major incident declared in Suffolk as 90 firefighters tackle wildfire on heathland

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Several people evacuated after ‘large-scale, wind-driven’ fire breaks out at Dunwich Heath near Leiston

A major incident has been declared as firefighters battle a large heathland fire on the Suffolk coast.

Suffolk fire and rescue service was called to reports of a wildfire at Dunwich Heath, near Leiston, shortly after 5.30pm on Wednesday, and crews remained at the scene on Thursday morning. About 90 firefighters were tackling the blaze, while several people had been evacuated. Leiston is about 5km away from Sizewell B, but firefighters have said there is not thought to be any danger to the nuclear power station at this time.

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Past fires suggest effects of Europe and North America wildfires may linger for years

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Three years after Maui wildfires many still struggle with ‘biological, emotional and social consequences’, study says

A spate of ferocious wildfires across North America and Europe, worsened by the climate crisis, has incinerated homes and forests and forced thousands of people to flee. Previous fires suggest the effects of these blazes may linger for years to come.

The current fires and their plumes of smoke can appear to be a temporary, if immediate, crisis. Nearly 1,000 fires have sprung into life in the boreal forests of Canada, causing the evacuation of towns and toxic smoke to waft into major Canadian and US cities, prompting threats of retribution from Donald Trump, who bizarrely accused Canada of “poisoning” his country’s air.

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More than 250,000 people flee wildfires in France and Spain

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Hundreds of firefighters battle blazes as strong winds drive fires towards Bordeaux and smoke prompts health warnings in Madrid

Unrestrained wildfires in Spain and France have forced more than 250,000 people to flee, authorities from both countries have said, as they struggle to contain the blazes.

About 70,000 people were evacuated from central Spain, while 197,000 people fled in France, including tens of thousands from the wine region city of Bordeaux.

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Fourth firefighter dies from burns received in June during Colorado wildfire operation

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Nathan Matthews, 43, died a month after deadly burnover enveloped his fire crew near the Colorado-Utah border

A fourth firefighter has died from burns after he and several colleagues were overcome by a fast-moving wildfire near the Colorado-Utah border last month, officials said on Saturday.

Nathan Matthews, 43, died on Friday, the US interior department said in a release. He was from Lincoln, Nebraska.

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Evacuated villagers in Cairngorms allowed home after wildfire threat lifts

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Scottish first minister thanks Nethy Bridge residents and aid workers after earlier requesting UK military aid to fight 10-day fire

Residents of Nethy Bridge have been told they can return to their homes after a large fire broke out in the Cairngorms national park.

Supt Judy Hill of Police Scotland said: “Thanks to the efforts of fire crews, gamekeepers, contractors, partners and many others over the past 24 hours, there is no longer the immediate threat which prompted the evacuation of properties in Nethy Bridge.

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Thousands of lightning strikes trigger fresh wildfires in western Canada

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At least 90 active blazes in British Columbia in what PM says is one of the country’s most intense seasons on record

Fresh wildfires have broken out in western Canada and forests continued to ⁠burn in Ontario as the country ⁠battled what the prime ​minister, Mark Carney, called one of the most intense wildfire seasons on record.

Nearly 34,000 lightning strikes over the past week led to a series of fires ⁠and evacuation orders in southern British Columbia. There were 25 evacuation orders and 90 active wildfires in the province as of Friday morning, and authorities said warming ⁠and drying conditions could cause them to grow.

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More than 200,000 people flee or lock down as wildfires sweep France and Spain

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‘Highly unpredictable’ blaze forces evacuation of Cap Ferret on French coast and Spain declares national emergency

More than 200,000 people have fled or been ordered to lock down as huge wildfires swept Spain and France on Friday, prompting Madrid to declare a national emergency and the French authorities to order the total evacuation, by land and sea, of one of the country’s best-known holiday spots.

Authorities in south-west France ordered the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast to be evacuated “village by village” in the face of an “intense, highly unpredictable” wildfire that has burned through more than 19,000 hectares (47,000 acres) of forest.

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We received no alert, say leaders of First Nations communities razed by Canadian wildfires

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Chiefs in Ontario say they were left to self-evacuate before homes burned to ground, after being told there was no imminent threat

Fast-moving wildfires have burned two First Nations communities in Canada to the ground, as members said they were left to self-evacuate without government help or emergency alerts.

Thirteen communities in Ontario province have been ordered to evacuate because of wildfires, most of them First Nations. The Ontario premier, Doug Ford, told reporters on Monday that close to 2,000 people had been evacuated so far to cities including Toronto and Niagara Falls.

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Canada issues air quality warnings over US wildfire smoke after Trump tariff threat

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Officials say smoke from US fires has crossed border days after US president accused Canada of improper fire management

After days of acrid smoke from northern wildfires choking major US cities and inspiring Donald Trump to threaten Canada with tariffs, officials now say the reverse is also happening as parts of Canada issue air quality warnings caused by American fires to the south.

Officials in the Canadian province of British Columbia warned in an alert on Saturday evening that smoke from US fires, spurred on by thousands of lightning strikes in the north-east, was creating smoky conditions as polluted air drifted north.

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Flash flood warnings strike north-east US amid wildfire smoke from Canada

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Poor air quality from wildfires continues to plague New York City as several neighborhoods hit by thunderstorms

Saturday is delivering a double dose of dangerous weather across the north-eastern US, with smoky skies from Canadian wildfires giving way to severe thunderstorms that have already triggered a flash flood warning as torrential rain pounds parts of the region.

After a brief break on Friday, smoke from the wildfires moved back into New York City and surrounding communities on Saturday, sending air quality back into unhealthy levels.

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Air quality warnings remain in place across US as wildfire smoke continues to swathe country

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Rain could alleviate conditions in mid-Atlantic and north-east, with World Cup final expected to go ahead on Sunday

Warnings of dangerous conditions are expected to remain in place on Saturday across swathes of the US, amid uncertainty about where the heavy wildfire smoke swirling from the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of Minnesota will head next.

Some parts of the US mid-Atlantic and north-east regions will continue to endure poor air quality until Saturday afternoon, where there is a high chance of thunderstorms, which could bring some reprieve from the poor air but come with other risks like flash flooding and high winds. Meanwhile, parts of the midwest and Great Lakes regions will continue to see dangerous air quality.

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More Canadian wildfire smoke shrouds US midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east

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109 million people face another day of poor air quality as smoke from blazes in Ontario drifts over the US

Tens of millions of Americans are enduring another day of smoky skies, irritated eyes and bad air quality, as Canadian wildfire smoke spread again over huge swathes of the US, affecting about 109 million people across the midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east.

The pungent smoke blanketed cities such as Chicago and Detroit, where residents on Friday were warned to stay indoors and reduce activity levels after the air-quality index reached a “hazardous” 361, according to the government website AirNow.

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Air quality plummets in 20 US states as smoke from Canadian wildfires spreads

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Millions of Americans face air quality alerts from Minnesota to New York as authorities urge people to stay indoors

Smoke from wildfires burning in south-central Canada and parts of Minnesota is spreading across the US, prompting air quality alerts in more than 20 states with millions of Americans expected to face unhealthy air conditions this week.

The smoke from the more than 180 active wildfires in northern Ontario made Chicago’s air quality the worst in the world on Thursday evening, followed by Detroit and Minneapolis, according to IQAir’s global rankings.

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Wildfires in Ontario make Toronto air quality worst in world

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Environment Canada has issued health warnings after sky over city turns yellow

Smoke from more than 100 active wildfires in northern Ontario have made Toronto’s air quality the current worst in the world and caused yellow, smoky air in cities across the north-east US.

Environment Canada issued health warnings on Wednesday after the sky over country’s largest city turned a sickly yellow and was ranked the worst in the world according to IQAir, the Swiss technology company that racks global air quality.

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Seven Britons among 12 foreign nationals killed in Spain’s deadly wildfires

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Fire broke out last Thursday in the southeastern province of Almería, which is home to many foreign residents

Seven Britons are among 12 foreign nationals killed in wildfires in southern Spain, authorities said.

Officials said 12 of the 13 victims were foreign nationals after completing postmortem examinations after the fires that swept through Andalusia.

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Pilot killed fighting Colorado wildfire identified as Nicholas Dale

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The British Columbia pilot was the only person aboard the helicopter, which crashed during aerial firefighting

The pilot who died when his helicopter crashed while fighting a Colorado wildfire has been named as Nicholas Dale of Sooke, British Columbia.

Dale, 56, died when his helicopter crashed into the Silver Jack reservoir on Monday while fighting what authorities have named the Gold Mountain fire, the local Gunnison county sheriff’s office said. His body was later recovered from the submerged helicopter by divers.

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Bastille Day celebrations in France tempered by fear of more wildfires

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Firework displays cancelled as Paris military parade asserts ‘France’s rearmament … and Europe’s strategic awakening’

Emmanuel Macron has presided over his final Bastille Day parade in Paris amid a searing heatwave and wildfires that forced authorities around the country to cancel traditional firework displays and balls celebrating France’s national day.

The French president was joined for the annual military procession and flypast by his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the British ‌prime minister, Keir Starmer, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and two dozen other national leaders.

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British couple killed in Spanish wildfires as authorities race to identify victims

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Appeal for DNA to help identify bodies as local government leader says ‘we are in a state of climate chaos’

A British couple have been named as two victims of the wildfires in Spain that have killed 13 people, as authorities race to use DNA to identify those who did not manage to escape the blaze.

Pete and Fran Gillam, who lived in Bédar, the village that bore the brunt of the wildfires on Thursday, are believed not to have survived.

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Fire bomber planes battle Fontainebleau forest blaze near Paris

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Wildfire quickly burnt more than 800 hectares, with villages evacuated, highway partly closed and high-speed rail disrupted

French officials rushed two firefighting planes to the Paris region on Sunday after a “very virulent” fire of “exceptional scale” erupted in the sprawling Fontainebleau forest about 60km (40 miles) south-east of the capital.

The fire began late afternoon in the one-time royal hunting preserve that today is dotted with quiet villages. It raced across 800 hectares (2,000 acres) and was still spreading early on Monday, officials said, causing the partial closure of the A6 highway, the country’s main north-south artery, and disrupting traffic during a busy, heatwave-stricken summer travel weekend.

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