Deadly Wildfire Spreads in the Mediterranean Amid Relentless Heatwaves
23:01 GMT 16.07.2022 (Updated: 13:59 GMT 05.08.2022)
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About 14,000 people have been forced to flee France’s south-western Gironde region due to dozens of wildfires that have spread across Portugal and Spain. The fires have been attributed to soaring temperatures not seen since 1757 across Europe.
Skyrocketing heat across western Europe has left many areas scorched and susceptible to wildfires. On Wednesday temperatures reached 116.6 F (47 C) in Pinhão, Portugal, the highest temperature ever recorded in the country for the month of July. And in the central town of Lousã temperatures reached 115.3 F (46.3 C) setting an all time record high.
Sevilla, Spain has been consistently hot with temperatures exceeding 105 F since July 8 (AccuWeather reported on Wednesday). On Saturday, La Vanguardia reported that there were more than 360 deaths in Spain caused by the unbelievable heatwaves, and in Portugal, 238 deaths were recorded between July 7 and July 13.
The heatwaves that are threatening the lives of those in Portugal, Spain and France are now bringing with them unrelenting wildfires. In northern Portugal, they are experiencing their worst fires since 2017. A pilot died after his water bombing plane crashed near Vila Nova de Foz Coa, on Friday evening.
16 July 2022, 14:58 GMT
At least two fires in Spain have burned about 18,200 acres (7,400 hectares) of land. And in Andalusia, the southernmost province in Spain, at least 3,000 people were forced to flee while 200 firefighters aided by 18 aircrafts worked to contain the blaze.
"What a night. We haven't slept all night,” said Gemma Suarez, a Spanish farmer who had to evacuate Casas de Miravete, crying as she spoke to Reuters. "A social worker came to see me to go pick up my elderly uncle. We spent the night in Navalmoral but we didn't sleep at all. I have never seen such a big fire,” she added.
Twitter user Emilio Mateos Ortega shared a terrifying video of the wildfire spreading through the Province of Cáceres in western Spain, on the border of Portugal.
Incendio forestal en Casa de Miravete en la N-5, Provincia de Cáceres. Seguimos! @La_SER @A3Noticias @BomberosCUBP @EPExtremadura pic.twitter.com/l7DTMyUpyI
— Emilio Mateos Ortega (@emiliomoska) July 14, 2022
At least 14,000 people in France’s Gironde region were forced to flee the wildfires, while about 2,300 people were forced to evacuate from southern Spain as the fire began to spread through the Mijas hills.
Around 1,200 firefighters and at least 10 water-bomber planes in France’s Gironde region battled the blaze in an effort to bring it under control between Friday and Saturday. At least one fire has been contained thus far, located near the popular tourist resort of Arcachon, but winds and unrelenting temperatures into next week could delay efforts.
The 9,000 hectares of pine forest destroyed in two wildfires in Gironde, on France’s south-west Atlantic coast, is the equivalent in surface area to 85% of the city of Paris pic.twitter.com/1N5nSaNVTR
— Sophie Pedder (@PedderSophie) July 16, 2022
"We have a fire that will continue to spread as long as it is not stabilized," Vincent Ferrier, deputy prefect for Langon in Gironde, announced at a news conference. More than 25,000 acres (10,000 hectares) of land were on fire in the Gironde region just south of Bordeaux on Saturday, an increase from the 18,000 acres of land that were on fire on Friday.
"Everything went so fast—the fire too, was big, big, big," said Manon Jacquart, 27, who had to evacuate a campsite where she is working this summer, on Wednesday morning. She is now staying at a shelter near La Teste de Buch.
"I'm just worried, I'm afraid… I'm trying to be as strong as I can but I'm not okay… I want to forget this week," she said.
Forest fires have now burned nearly 10,000 hectares in the #Gironde region of France 🇫🇷 🔥 #FeuxdeForêt pic.twitter.com/K5m5xY1n3I
— Zoom Earth (@zoom_earth) July 16, 2022
France is currently on high alert for severe weather this weekend into next week. Italy, Greece, Morocco and the United Kingdom are also bracing for extreme weather—including fire warnings—attributed to this week’s heatwaves. Human-induced climate change has rapidly increased global temperatures with carbon emissions instigated by the industrial era having heated up the planet about 34 F since the industrial era first began.
