Heatwave-fuelled wildfires sweep Europe, destroy homes
The Spanish state weather agency, AEMET, issued a warning that nearly the entire country was at extreme or very high risk of fire, resulting in the death of a volunteer firefighter from severe burns and the hospitalisation of numerous others.
News Arena Network - Spain - UPDATED: August 13, 2025, 07:41 PM - 2 min read
A representative image.
Thousands of residents and visitors on Wednesday were forced to evacuate as wildfires fuelled by a heat wave and strong winds continued to rage across southern Europe, burning homes, farms, and factories.
On the outskirts of the Greek city of Patras, in the northern Peloponnese west of Athens, a wildfire that swept through forests and olive groves and interrupted rail traffic set a cement factory on fire, causing flames and dark smoke to billow over it. “What does it look like? It looks like doomsday. May God help us and help the people here,” said Giorgos Karvanis, a volunteer who had come from Athens to Patras to help.
On Tuesday, authorities issued an evacuation order for the roughly 7,700-person town near Patras, and on Wednesday, they issued additional alerts urging people in two nearby villages to evacuate. Authorities issued evacuation orders as fires spread on the popular tourist islands of Cephalonia in the west and Chios in the east of Greece.
The Spanish state weather agency, AEMET, issued a warning that nearly the entire country was at extreme or very high risk of fire, resulting in the death of a volunteer firefighter from severe burns and the hospitalisation of numerous others. According to regional officials, the 35-year-old man was caught in the fire while trying to build firebreaks close to the town of Nogarejas in the central Castile and Leon region.
More than 5,000 people were evacuated from villages in Castile and Leon as firefighters hosed down burning homes and warehouses.
Alfonso Rueda, the head of the northwest's Galicia region, described the situation there as "complicated" and claimed that the weather was making matters worse. In the province of Ourense in Galicia, six active fires were affecting a total area of 10,000 hectares, or 38 square miles.
Spanish Environment Minister Sara Aagesen told SER radio station that many fires across the country were suspected to be intentionally caused by arsonists due to their “virulence”, but added it was too early to say how many. In Albania, Defence Minister Pirro Vengu said it was a “critical week”, with several major wildfires burning across the country.
Spanish Environment Minister Sara Aagesen.
In the southern city of Delvina, evacuees returned to their homes but authorities remained vigilant. Attempts to douse the fires have been hampered by a heatwave across large parts of the continent.
Spain was in its 10th day of a heatwave that peaked on Tuesday with temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), and which AEMET expected to last until Monday, making it one of the longest on record.
Pope Leo moved his weekly audience from St. Peter’s Square to an indoor venue in the Vatican, “to stay a little bit out of the sun and the extreme heat” as Italy’s health ministry issued extreme heat warnings for 16 cities on Wednesday, with temperatures forecast to peak at 39C (102F) in Florence.
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