Strong winds and hot, dry weather are frustrating the efforts of French firefighters to contain a massive fire that tore through pine forests in the Bordeaux region for a fifth straight day on Saturday, one of several burning across Europe this week. Among the worst fires were in Portugal, where the pilot of a firefighting plane died on Friday when his plane crashed while on an operation in the northeast. It was the first death in fires in Portugal so far this year, which have injured more than 160 people this week and forced hundreds to evacuate. The fire season has hit parts of Europe earlier than usual this year after an unusually dry, hot spring left the ground parched, which authorities attribute to climate change. As France’s worst fire inched closer to populated towns, some of the 11,000 people evacuated in the area described fear and uncertainty about what they would find when they returned home. Images released by firefighters show flames shooting through a mass of pine trees and black smoke billowing into the horizon. Firefighters focused efforts Saturday on using fire trucks to surround villages at risk and save as many homes as possible, Charles Lafourcade, who oversees the French firefighting operation, told reporters at the scene. About 3,000 firefighters supported by water-dropping planes are battling the flames in southern France, the president said, and Greece has sent firefighting equipment to help. French firefighters managed to contain one of the worst fires overnight near the Atlantic seaside resort of Arcachon popular with tourists from across Europe, the regional emergency service said on Saturday. But it said “difficult weather conditions” had hampered efforts to contain the largest fire in the region, which started in the town of Landiras, south of a valley of Bordeaux vineyards. District attorneys suspect arson. The two fires have burned at least 9,650 hectares (23,800 acres) of land in recent days. A similar scene is playing out in Portugal, where more than 1,000 firefighters worked on Saturday alongside ordinary citizens desperate to save their homes after a grueling week of battling multiple blazes still raging across the country. Wildfires have been fueled by extreme temperatures and drier conditions earlier than usual. Portugal’s state broadcaster RTP reported Friday that the area burned this year has already exceeded the total for 2021. More than 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of land have burned, it said, most of it in the past week. Across the border, Spain has been struggling to contain several fires, including two that have burned about 7,400 hectares (18,200 acres) of land. In southern Andalusia, around 3,000 people were evacuated from villages at risk from a fire that started near the village of Mijas in the province of Malaga. About 200 firefighters supported by 18 aircraft tried to contain the fire. Authorities were investigating the cause. For a sixth day, firefighters were also trying to bring under control a fire started by lightning in the west central district of Las Hurdes. About 400 people from eight villages were evacuated on Friday as flames approached their homes and threatened to spread into the nearby Monfrague National Park. Croatia and Hungary have also battled wildfires this week, as have California and Morocco. Many European countries are experiencing extreme heat this month which is also attributed to climate change. Portuguese authorities said a national July high of 47 degrees Celsius (117 Fahrenheit) was recorded in the northern city of Pinhao on Wednesday. Britain’s Met Office has issued its first “red warning” for extreme heat for Monday and Tuesday, when temperatures in southern England are forecast to reach 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit). “All the heat waves studied so far in Europe are getting hotter,” said Robert Vautard of the Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute at the Sorbonne University. “Until greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to zero, heat waves will continue to intensify, become more frequent and last longer.” In Turkey — the site of devastating wildfires last summer — local media reported fires in the western province of Izmir and Hatay, which lies between the Mediterranean and the Syrian border. Helicopters, planes and hundreds of firefighters brought the flames under control, Cumhuriyet newspaper and other media reported. Wildfires fueled by strong winds and scorching temperatures last year ravaged Turkey’s Mediterranean and Aegean regions, killing at least eight people. The fires led to criticism of the government for its inadequate preparation and response. Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain
