Heat and drought fuel wildfires

French campsites are being evacuated, Portuguese swimming pools have been rushed to empty firefighters and a sprinkler system around the famous giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park in the US. Climate change is making large areas vulnerable to wildfires. An overview.

Portugal

It smolders around the Mediterranean Sea. In Portugal, temperatures have easily risen above 44 degrees Celsius in recent days. About two thousand firefighters are trying to put out 17 fires, here and there diligently helped by residents.

According to civil defense, one person has already died and around 60 people have been injured in the fire. Since the beginning of 2022, more than 30,000 hectares have burned in Portugal.

France

Two fires in southwestern France have burned more than 7,000 hectares since Tuesday. The situation there is “still unfavorable”. The fire, which involved about 1,000 firefighters, led to the evacuation of 10,000 people.

Another fire, which was driven over by a train on Thursday afternoon near Avignon in southeastern France, has destroyed at least 300 hectares. The fire has since been extinguished.

Turkey

More than 3,500 people have been evacuated after a fire broke out in Turkey’s Datka Peninsula. 19 people were injured. A fire broke out in the power house, but has since been brought under control. Firefighters are working to douse the blaze and have dispatched seven aircraft and fourteen helicopters.

The Turkish side of Cyprus is also struggling with wildfires. There, the Turkish government receives help from Israeli and British firefighters.

United Nations

A wildfire threatens a forest of 500 ancient giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park. The fire department installed a sprinkler system to protect the trees. The Grizzly Giant, the oldest tree in the forest, estimated to be 3,000 years old, is kept moist to prevent it from catching fire. LA Times.

The blaze, known as the Washburn fire, started on Thursday and has now grown to about 1,100 hectares. Wawona village is threatened and evacuated. 550 firemen are working to douse the fire.

Spain

In Spain, as every summer, several forest fires rage. In the southern Costa del Sol, 2,300 people were evacuated as a precaution on Friday. The fire, which broke out in the afternoon, mainly threatened the area around the municipalities of Alhaurin de la Torre and Alhaurin el Grande in the Sierra de Mijas mountain range near Malaga.

The fire destroyed about 1,000 hectares of forest within hours. Clouds of smoke reached some beaches. Málaga and the nearby well-known seaside resorts of Marbella, Fuengirola, Torremolinos and Benalmádena were not at risk as strong winds pushed the massive island off the coast of southern Spain, officials said.

About 200 kilometers west of Madrid, a huge fire is raging out of control in a vast nature reserve. The fire that broke out in the hamlet of Ladriller on Thursday is still spreading rapidly.