Firefighters across Europe struggled against multiple fires as a new wave of record-breaking heat baked the continent. The historic temperatures are linked to human-caused climate change, and are hitting countries more used to long cold seasons and ill-equipped for this sort of heat, with limited air conditioning.
France Battles Driest Year on Record
With France experiencing its driest year ever, a new fire raced through woodlands overnight in the Landes region on the southwest coast. The blaze forced more than 500 people to evacuate their homes in the town of Luglon as hundreds of firefighters deployed to the area.
It’s one of several fires scorching forests around France this week, including in normally cooler and wetter regions in the north and Brittany. A historic fire devoured forests near Bordeaux last month and pushed a quarter of a million people from their homes.
UK and Germany Also Affected
In the central English town of Stourbridge, a huge blaze started Thursday, consuming houses and leaving many without roofs as flames burned inside the charred walls. About 20 to 30 homes were completely destroyed.
In Germany, all 1,800 residents of the village of Gey in western Germany were evacuated after a wildfire with shifting winds in the nearby Hürtgen forest threatened to reach their homes. Nearly 300 hectares of forest were ablaze on Friday morning, local authorities said.
Unexploded ordnance from World War II in the forest hampered firefighting efforts, German news agency dpa reported. The fire advanced to within 300 meters of Gey, which sits on the edge of the forest near the Belgian border.
Other Countries Affected
Spain, Croatia, Albania, and Greece are also battling wildfires. In Croatia, one person was killed and 14 people were hospitalized from a fire that raged overnight by the coastal town of Omis and forced more than 1,000 people to evacuate their homes.
In Albania, 11 active fires were reported across the country, with the largest fire in the Gure-Lure area, where the perimeter near residential homes has been brought under control. Three people have been prosecuted over that fire, which engulfed Lura National Park.
Original reporting: WTVQ (Lexington) — read the source article.
