Wildfires Ravage Southern Europe, Leaving at Least Three Dead and Thousands Displaced

Wildfires intensified across southern Europe on Wednesday after a night of relentless efforts to contain the perimeter around Greece’s third-largest city, with at least three additional fatalities reported in Spain, Turkey, and Albania.

On the outskirts of the Greek port city of Patras, firefighters battled to protect homes and agricultural infrastructure as flames consumed olive groves.

While aircraft and helicopters dropped water from above, residents joined the effort, attempting to smother the flames with branches or douse them with buckets of water.

Firefighting resources were stretched thin across multiple affected countries, where crews struggled to contain numerous blazes following weeks of record-breaking heatwaves across the Mediterranean.

Aircraft took turns assisting with wildfires in western mainland Greece, the Patras region, and the island of Zakynthos. Athens also sent aid to neighboring Albania, joining an international effort to combat dozens of wildfires. An 80-year-old man died in a fire south of the capital, Tirana, authorities reported Wednesday.

In central Albania, residents were evacuated from four villages near a former military ammunition depot. In the southern Korca district, near the Greek border, explosions were reported from buried World War II-era artillery shells.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed condolences for the death of a volunteer assisting in firefighting efforts in the Castilla y León region, north of Madrid, where authorities ordered thousands to evacuate.

The government raised the national emergency level and prepared additional support measures for regional authorities overseeing multiple evacuations and road closures.

A forestry worker died Wednesday while responding to a wildfire in southern Turkey, officials reported. The Forestry Ministry stated the worker was killed in an accident involving a fire truck, which left four others injured.

Turkey has been battling severe wildfires since late June. A total of 18 people have died, including 10 volunteer rescuers and forestry workers in July.