The sky over the island of Evia turned red and orange as people boarded an evacuation ferry after days of fires in the area.
Dozens of wildfires have burned in Greece after the longest heatwave in 30 years, which sent temperatures soaring to 45C.
The Greek coastguard said three patrol boats, four navy vessels, one ferry and various tourist, fishing and private boats were on standby to carry out more potential evacuations from villages on the island's northern tip.
Continue reading...The city is surrounded by flames. On the ground, there are tales of heroism – and fear for the future
Little had prepared any of us on the Athens-bound flight for the sight of the great fire-induced clouds that swept either side of the plane as it made its descent on Friday.
News of the extreme heat engulfing Greece had spread beyond its borders all week, packaged in increasingly desperate language. Temperatures were breaking records few had ever imagined. If Monday was bad, then Tuesday was worse. In some parts of the country, the mercury had hit 47C (117F), with thermal cameras on drones recording the ground temperature in downtown Athens at 55C.
Continue reading...Every morning after moving here, I thought I must have done something right because I got to live in all this majesty. Then the Dixie fire took it away
My defiantly quirky, beautiful adopted hometown turned into a ghost town last night. There are so many things I could tell you about Greenville. There were over a thousand people and change, though the population sign still said 2,000.
We all have an opinion. About everything. We are a microcosm of America and often frustrated with each other. Greenville is filled with do-gooders, volunteers, retirees, hippies, bikers, and rednecks, ranchers, cowboys, and people who never felt like the town they were born in was quite the right fit for them. We were extended families and single moms and dads. We were drunks. We were sober. We tried not to be too judgmental lest someone judge us back. We were recent survivors of Paradise, too.
Continue reading...The fast-moving Dixie fire has continued to burn through northern California, leaving much of the gold rush town of Greenville in ashes. The three-week-old fire has burned more than 500 sq miles and destroyed dozens of homes. Greenville was previously damaged by a significant fire in 1881 but maintained some buildings that were more than a century old
Continue reading...Deaths occur in Turkey with Italy and Greece also badly hit and thousands evacuated
Eight people have died and thousands have been evacuated from their homes as extreme wildfires continue to rage in parts of southern Europe.
Related: The photo that has come to define Turkey’s wildfires
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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
Continue reading...The country’s most destructive fires in decades have razed forests and farmland across swathes of land next to the Mediterranean and Aegean seas
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...