Deadly wildfires force thousands from homes in parts of Europe
Three firefighters have been killed fighting the flames sweeping across swathes of Italy, France and Spain.
This photograph shows burnt car and trees following a wildfire near Le Porge, southwestern France on Jul 23, 2026. (Photo: AFP/Romain Perrocheau)
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ROME: Wildfires continued to sweep across swathes of Italy, France and Spain on Thursday (Jul 23), forcing thousands to flee from blazes fanned by scorching temperatures and strong winds.
Three firefighters have been killed fighting the flames as southern Europe endures another spell of severe heat, with temperatures topping 40°C in some areas.
Scientists have long warned that climate change caused by humans burning fossil fuels is making extreme weather events such as fires and heatwaves more likely, longer-lasting and more severe.
In Sicily, around 6,000 firefighters, forest guards and civil protection officials battled dozens of fires that have raged for days across the Mediterranean island despite the deployment of water-bombing aircraft.
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Italian interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said a firefighter died after falling ill while battling the flames.
A spokesperson for Italy’s Civil Protection Agency told AFP the situation in Sicily was “serious” and that the fires were “being fuelled by very high temperatures and very dry soil”.
More than 160 fires have also been recorded in the neighbouring Calabria region, which the local civil protection chief blamed on deliberate cases of arson by “malicious individuals”.
Among other acts, the alleged arsonists had tied rags soaked in flammable liquid to the tails of stray cats to spread the flames, he said.
In France, more than 10,000 tourists had evacuated from camping sites and other holiday accommodation near Bordeaux in the southwest on Thursday, as a wildfire ravaged a seaside pine forest.
The blaze in Le Porge had ripped through 2,000 hectares – an area about three times the size of Gibraltar – since Wednesday, officials said.
Two firefighters had died on Tuesday tackling a blaze that broke out near Bordeaux airport.
France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez met the firefighters’ families on Wednesday, as unions warned workers were facing “exhaustion” and a lack of resources.
“We’re dealing with a very dense stand of closely packed pines,” firefighter Captain Wilfried Schneider told AFP, describing a fire of “rare” intensity.
“BIG BLACK CLOUD”
“We saw a big cloud of black smoke spread across the sky in the middle of the afternoon,” said Julie Leonard, a Bordeaux resident in her thirties who came with her family to a spot not under threat in Le Porge.
“If I’d been brave, I would have stayed in my cabin, but it was too hot. I got in my car and left,” said Bernard Roche, 75, who has lived in the area for 35 years.
“In the forest, it’s been particularly dry these last few days,” the former lifeguard said.
While Le Porge’s mayor Martial Zaninetti said the fire could have been started by a machine used to clear forest track, this is yet to be officially confirmed.
Around 700 people left their homes as a precaution in Le Porge, where more than 3,000 campers were also relocated, the prefecture said.
Across the border in Spain, progress made by the firefighters in tackling a major wildfire south of Madrid allowed most residents of the threatened communities to return, the emergency services said on Thursday.
The fire, which broke out on Wednesday near the city of Toledo, around 75km from the Spanish capital, prompted authorities to order the evacuation of several districts as flames advanced towards homes.
Villagers in El Encinar del Alberche in the municipality of Villa del Prado were still urged to stay away from their homes.
Firefighters described overnight efforts as “very positive”, although the blaze had not yet been stabilised and several roads in the area remained closed.
But hundreds of firefighters were still battling a much larger wildfire in Guadalajara province, around 100km north of Madrid, which has burnt about 32,000 hectares since it started last Thursday.
In 2025, more than 393,000 hectares had been consumed by flames in Spain, according to the European Forest Fire Information System, the worst toll in the country’s recent history.
Source: AFP/ec
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