Deadly wildfires in Europe force thousands to flee tourist towns, historic villages amid heatwave conditions

Wildfires fanned by scorching temperatures and strong winds swept through parts of Italy, France and Spain on Thursday, forcing thousands of people to flee as hundreds of firefighters backed by water-bombing planes battled the blazes.

Thousands of tourists on France’s southwestern Atlantic coast were forced out of campsites and holiday homes, while Spanish authorities ordered a town near Madrid to evacuate late Thursday because of an out-of-control fire.

The total area of land burnt so far this year in EU countries is the second largest on record, according to satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

Three firefighters have been killed as southern Europe endures temperatures above 40C, which is unusually severe for the continent.

France has invoked the EU’s civil protection mechanism to ask for help, requesting six aircraft, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.

“The gendarmes came and knocked on every door, the fire was about 500 metres away — we grabbed some things and left,” said Patrick Martineau, a 69-year-old resident of Le Porge, south of the French city of Bordeaux.

France’s southeast was also being hard hit, with dozens of fires flaring up and being fanned by the mistral wind around the historic village of Cotignac — officials saying around 25 houses had been destroyed since Tuesday.

Thousands of emergency workers in Italy battled scores of fires in Sicily and in Calabria region, where a local official said arsonists had started fires by tying rags soaked in flammable liquid to the tails of stray cats to spread the flames.

One firefighter died after falling ill while battling the flames in Sicily, the interior minister said.

Around Bordeaux, more than 20,000 people — mostly tourists in campsites and holiday lets — have been evacuated since Wednesday, as a fire ravaged a seaside pine forest.

The authorities said the fire had been contained on its northerly flank but was not yet totally under control further south.

Firefighters were now battling “house by house” to protect the tourist hub of Lege-Cap-Ferret, said regional wildfire chief Marc Vermeulen.

Two firefighters died on Tuesday tackling another blaze near Bordeaux airport.

No chance

Skies over Le Porge turned orange as smoke rose from charred and crackling pine trees, while helicopters made repeated runs over evacuated neighbourhoods.

Fires in 2022 damaged a massive area of the same forest, forcing around 50,000 people to be evacuated.

The blazes are breaking out faster because of climate change caused by the burning of oil, coal and gas. European droughts are now more severe, climatologists from the World Weather Attribution group said in a study published on Thursday.

Across the border in Spain, authorities ordered 3500 people in a small town west of Madrid to leave their homes late Thursday because of a forest fire burning out of control.

The emergency services said alert messages had been sent to people in Aldea de Fresno ordering their evacuation.

Eighteen firefighting units with specialist troops were working to contain the blaze, close to another wildfire on Wednesday near the city of Toledo that forced the evacuation of several villages.

Firefighters battled through the night and most residents were allowed to return Thursday.

Hundreds of firefighters and troops were still struggling to contain a much larger wildfire in Guadalajara province, north of Madrid.

“Climate change is what kills, what destroys our villages and our natural and cultural heritage,” civil protection chief Virginia Barcones told Spanish radio.

She warned some fires become so intense that, despite the deployment of aircraft and ground crews, firefighters stand “no chance”.

Barcones said conditions at the Guadalajara blaze were improving but that strong winds and extreme heat remained a danger.