European countries continue to suffer from large-scale forest fires, the spread of which is being fuelled by gale-force winds. The fires are closing in on major cities, and hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated. Local emergency services are overwhelmed and are therefore turning to other countries for help, including Ukraine.
EcoPolitic has prepared an overview of the fire situation, compiling information for its readers from Reuters, Bloomberg, Euractiv and The Guardian.
Ukrainian firefighters in France
For the second week running, fires have been scorching France’s ecosystems. We previously reported that the authorities had to evacuate people from the Cap-Ferret peninsula, and later the fires approached the city of Bordeaux. Meanwhile, the flames have destroyed part of the historic hunting grounds near Paris.
The scale of the disaster is so critical that foreign specialists are being called in to help. In particular, on Sunday 2 August, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported that Ukrainian firefighters were taking part in efforts to extinguish the blaze in the Gironde department. There alone, the fire has engulfed 42,000 hectares, with a perimeter of 240 km.
Source: State Emergency Service of Ukraine
During the weekend, the situation was brought under control, and the fires were largely contained.
Fire threatens ancient athens
In Greece, the fire is already devastating forests and shrubs 60 km from Athens. Rescuers say the key factor in the fire’s escalation is the strong wind with gusts from 73 km/h. Other sources report gusts reaching a staggering 125 km/h. Besides being powerful, the wind is also chaotic, making it difficult to predict its direction.
Residents of cities located northwest of Athens were ordered to evacuate on Saturday, August 1.
The fire has already indirectly led to tragedy. On Sunday, August 2, two firefighting helicopters collided. Passengers of one of them, citizens of Denmark and Greece, died. This happened at a time when the fire had already destroyed more than 100 homes and people were fleeing another fire on the tourist island of Kefalonia.
Source: Reuters
In total, about 500 firefighters, including those from France and Romania, fought the fire here.
There will only be more fires
Scientists have analyzed the conditions contributing to the occurrence of fires and their intensity in EU countries. It turned out that simultaneously dry, hot, and windy weather has become one and a half times more frequent over the past ten years in France and Spain.
Therefore, experts advise shifting to preventive measures-burning dry vegetation under controlled conditions, removing small trees, and so on.
A storm is also raging across the ocean
Forest fires have also spread to the US state of Washington. At least 600 homes have already been destroyed in the Spokane area. The authorities have ordered the evacuation of 60,000 people. Some of the fires have still not been brought under control.
Джерело: AP
Meadows are ablaze in Idaho and Oregon. The fire has engulfed an area of around 1,400 km². The region is home to cattle ranches. According to the authorities, the fire is threatening more than 600 homes and 800 other buildings. It is believed that the fire was caused by a lightning strike.
EcoPolitic previously reported on large-scale forest fires in Canada. Instead of offering assistance, Trump in the neighbouring US merely levelled accusations at the authorities of the neighbouring country over air pollution, which had even reached New York.
