In Spain, the fight against several major fires that have broken out in recent days continues. One of them is collapsing in the municipality of Losacio, near the Portuguese border. The authorities estimate that over 300 square kilometers burned in the area last week, with two fatalities as a result. On Sunday evening, evacuation orders were issued for residents after the flames started to approach Losacio and neighboring villages again, local media reports.
Further north, in the province of Burgos, another fire broke out on Sunday afternoon. Later in the evening, the Spanish news agency EFE reported that the flames had reached the village of Santo Domingo de Silos, after which 500 residents were evacuated. The development raised concerns that the village’s famous Benedictine monastery would be damaged, but on Monday local media reported that the monastery had escaped the fire.
The Spanish tourist island of Tenerife has also been heavily affected by a major forest fire since last Thursday. The extent is estimated so far to be around 27 square kilometers, and the authorities remain on high alert for fear of further spread.
In Italy, the fire brigade is still at full speed after the recent heat wave. During the weekend, the region of Umbria in the central parts of the country was hit particularly hard. On Sunday alone, nine fires raged simultaneously in the area, local media reports.
In several places, the extinguishing work was hampered by difficult terrain, but thanks to the efforts of water-bombing fire planes, the fires have been able to be separated from nearby villages and towns, writes the Italian news agency ANSA.
In Greece, the fires are increasing in scale. In the past three days, over 140 wildfires have been reported around the country, according to a spokesperson for the Greek Fire Service.
A lot of focus is currently on the island of Lesbos, where a fire has consumed an area of roughly 20 square kilometers since Saturday morning. The evacuation orders issued over the weekend were extended on Monday to two more villages, reports the Greek newspaper Kathimerini.
Another fire rages on the Peloponnese peninsula, near ancient Olympia. On Sunday, several towns in the area were evacuated, but on Monday the situation looked brighter. The fire brigade is still working to get control of the fire, but the risk of spreading is no longer considered to be as great, the newspaper writes.
Greece has previously asked for international help to fight fires during the summer – and reinforcements are on the way. In August, among other things, a group of 50 Finnish firefighters will go down to Greece to assist in the work.
– The fires are completely different from what we are used to here, and the heat at the fires will be stressful and certainly the toughest, says rescue director Peter Johansson about the assignment to Hufvudstadsbladet.
The impact of extreme heat around the world