Violent wildfires, fueled by strong winds and high temperatures, continued to ravage several areas in Southern Europe, particularly in Italy, Spain, and France, where authorities on Thursday had to evacuate thousands of additional people from a tourist area.

Data from satellites belonging to the EFFIS system showed that this year currently ranks second in terms of area burned by wildfires in the European Union over the past two decades.

From the fires in southern France (AFP)

Forests are becoming more flammable due to the extreme drought that has affected plants and soil for months, a drought exacerbated by the exceptional heatwaves that swept the continent in June and July. An international team of scientists also confirmed on Thursday that climate change caused by human activities, particularly the use of fossil fuels, has aggravated the severe drought in Europe and contributed to record temperatures.

The fires have killed three firefighters, two in France and one in Italy.

In southwestern France, firefighters continued to battle two large fires, one of which has burned more than 2,000 hectares north of the Arcachon basin in Gironde, a popular tourist area near the city of Bordeaux, with no casualties reported.

Gironde authorities on Thursday evacuated at least 7,000 people as a precaution, bringing the total number of residents and tourists forced to leave their homes and accommodations to 12,000. The evacuation included six tourist campsites and a residential complex north of Cap Ferret.

Fire trucks amid forest fires in southwestern France (AFP)

The other fire, which broke out in a field last Tuesday, remained active in the Var department in southeastern France, burning about 2,500 hectares and forcing the evacuation of around 400 people.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said that more than 12,500 fires have broken out in the country since the beginning of the year, with flames consuming about 44,000 hectares, an area larger than that burned in 2022, when southwestern France experienced large-scale fires.

Nuñez was speaking at a fire station in Bordeaux after meeting with the families of two firefighters killed on Tuesday while fighting a fire near the city's airport.

Italy

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi announced the death of a firefighter on Wednesday while battling flames in southern Italy, where dozens of fires are consuming forests and vegetation in Sicily, fueled by scorching winds.

From the fires on the island of Sicily (AFP)

Firefighters reported evacuating about 100 residents and 22 patients from a clinic in the center of the island, where temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius in recent days.

Regional President Renato Schifani said Wednesday evening: '6,000 personnel (forest guards, firefighters, and civil protection agents) have been deployed, along with 20 operational aircraft,' adding that about 50 fires out of 344 reported on Wednesday were still burning on Thursday. More than 160 fires were also recorded in the neighboring Calabria region in the past 24 hours.

A local civil protection official said via video that a large number of fires are due to criminal causes, pointing out that 'people with malicious intent' tied pieces of cloth soaked in flammable liquid to the tails of stray cats to start fires.

Spain

In Spain, a large fire broke out near the city of Toledo southwest of Madrid, prompting the evacuation of several residents of towns in the area and the closure of one of them, according to emergency services.

From the fires in Guadalajara, Spain (Reuters)

As an indication of the fire's rapid spread, authorities and emergency services sent two alert messages to all mobile phones in the area to warn residents of the situation. The town of Almorox, where the fire started, is located in the Castilla-La Mancha region, about 70 kilometers southwest of Madrid.

Several fires have broken out in Spain in recent days. Due to the heatwave sweeping the country for two days, fires are spreading very quickly, especially in arid areas, where scrubland provides an ideal fuel for flames.

The largest wildfire is on the other side of Madrid in the province of Guadalajara, about 100 kilometers north of the capital, and has burned 32,000 hectares since last Thursday.

A massive fire burned about 15,000 hectares last week in the province of Zaragoza in the northeast of the country. Another fire killed 13 people days earlier in the province of Almería in the southeast.