The pilot of a fire-fighting plane dies, tourists flee the beach into the water – the fires in large parts of southern Europe continue to rage. There is no end in sight to the heat and drought. Up to 40 degrees are expected in Germany next week.
Paris/Rome/Athens/Madrid – Heat, drought and forest fires continue to affect large parts of southern Europe. In Portugal, a pilot died when his fire-fighting plane crashed. In the Italian Adriatic seaside resort of Bibione, tourists fled into the sea because of a forest fire and were rescued there by the coast guard.
According to the German Weather Service (DWD), it could also be up to 40 degrees hot in Germany on Tuesday.
A fire-fighting plane crashes in Portugal
The single-engine seaplane was near the town of Vila Nova de Foz Côa on Friday afternoon for an unknown reason in northeastern Portugal, about 200 kilometers east of Porto, reported the newspaper “Público”, citing civil defense. The 38-year-old pilot André Serra could only be recovered dead. “He will be remembered for his courage, his bravery and his commitment,” said the President’s Office in Lisbon in recognition of the pilot who had an accident.
The machine was involved in fighting a forest fire in the Torre de Moncorvo region. According to civil defense, 13 larger and dozens of smaller fires are currently raging in the popular holiday destination. However, tourist and larger residential areas were not in danger for the time being. A total of around 1,000 firefighters are deployed.
The series of fires that started a week ago is being helped by a drought and heat that has been going on for many months. According to the ICNF, the blaze destroyed more than 25,000 hectares in just one week – the equivalent of about 35,000 soccer fields.
Like neighboring Spain, Portugal suffers from peak temperatures of over 40 degrees. In Spain A total of 33 forest fires were recorded on Saturday morning, 14 of which were out of control. Near Málaga, 2,300 people had to leave their homes in the city of Alhaurín el Grande because of the approaching flames, according to the newspaper “El País”.
Escape from imminent flames into the sea
In the northern Italian Adriatic seaside resort of Bibione tourists fled to the sea because of a forest fire and were rescued there by the coast guard. According to media reports, the fire in the area popular with German holidaymakers broke out on Friday afternoon. When asked on Saturday, the coast guard was initially unable to confirm whether Germans were among the rescued. Several fire brigades and a firefighting helicopter fought the flames on the border between the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions. The operation continued on Saturday.
Videos showed how fire ate up the trees and thick smoke rose into the sky, which could be seen from miles away. “We hope that it will not be revoked in the coming hours, but there should be no missing people,” San Michele al Tagliamento deputy mayor Pierluigi Grosseto told Ansa news agency. The police are investigating the cause of the fire. Because of the drought, Grosseto says it’s possible the flames were self-igniting. The forces fought four fires.
In connection with the extreme drought currently struggling in Italy nationwide fire brigades against forest and bush fires. In the municipality of Gereut (Frassilongo) in Trentino, northern Italy, 90 firefighters, two helicopters and two fire-fighting planes responded to a forest fire in an area of around 70 hectares. Firefighting continued on Saturday. The civil defense warned not to approach the area. The hiking and skiing area is east of Trento.
Forest fire on Crete under control
In Tuscany, the Lucca fire brigade had to put out fires in a burning olive grove on Friday. Forest and bush fires were also raging in Sicily and Sardinia, and fire-fighting aircraft were used to fight them.
The forest fire that has been on the Holiday island of Crete south of the port city of Rethymno was brought under control on Saturday morning. The Greek fire brigade announced that they had been fighting the flames all night. Six villages have been evacuated. Although the fire came close to the settlements, no houses were damaged, the municipality’s mayor, Agios Vasilios, told Skai on Saturday.
The Ministry for the Climate Crisis and Citizen Protection warned again on Saturday of a “very high risk of forest fires” in five regions in Greece. Warning level four (out of five) applies to the Attica region with the capital Athens and the islands of Euboea, Crete, Chios and Samos. The authorities are appealing to people not to handle fire outdoors under any circumstances.
Hope for calm in France
On the French Atlantic coast south of Bordeaux, after days of extinguishing work, there is hope that one of the two large forest fires will calm down. The area burned near Teste-de-Buch did not increase overnight, the Gironde prefecture announced on Saturday morning. However, the fire is not yet under control and there is a high risk that it will flare up again. The mayor of the town, Patrick Davet, told the French broadcaster France Info: “The situation is worrying, but we have a lot of hope.”
The situation is different with the second major forest fire in the area. The fire at Landiras burned about 1,000 more hectares of land during the night. The situation remains unfavorable, winds bring the fire to the southeast. Firefighters have been on duty since Tuesday to extinguish the two large forest fires. In total, more than 9600 hectares of land were destroyed. As a precaution, more than 12,000 people were evacuated from their homes or holiday resorts. dpa
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