An elderly couple died in wildfires on the Greek island of Salamina on Sunday, while Belgium is battling what authorities describe as the largest wildfire in modern history in an inaccessible area near the German border, amid the latest wave of fires sweeping across Europe.
The couple died outside their home in the Peristeria beach area of Salamina, Greece’s Coast Guard reported. More than 500 people were ordered to evacuate.
In Spain, a soldier died on Sunday while helping fight a major wildfire in Aragon, authorities said. Reinforcements from France were expected to assist in containing the blaze in the northeastern region, which has been burning for a week and has threatened a 1,000-year-old monastery.
In Belgium, a wildfire that broke out on Friday in the High Fens, a large nature reserve popular with hikers and tourists, had burned approximately 3,000 hectares of land by Sunday morning and was approaching the German border.
Around 600 people in the municipalities of Waimes and Bütgenbach, in Liège province, were ordered to leave their homes on Saturday. Tourists were also asked to evacuate after winds changed direction and smoke spread across the area.
Hervé Jamar, governor of Liège, said more than 250 firefighters and emergency service personnel were involved in the operation, including firefighters from Germany.
Farmers are also assisting in the firefighting effort, using their tractors to transport water from Lake Robertville.
The blaze, described by officials as the largest in Belgium’s modern history, began in an area that was severely affected by massive wildfires during a period of drought in 1911.
In Portugal, hundreds of firefighters were battling a series of wildfires. Near Dines, a village close to the Spanish border, five firefighters were injured after their vehicle caught fire, local media reported. Other fires were burning near the Spanish border, including in Boticas and Chaves.
Human-caused climate change is worsening extreme weather conditions around the world, contributing to more frequent and deadly disasters, from heatwaves to floods and wildfires.
Large parts of Europe are experiencing another period of extreme temperatures, creating favorable conditions for wildfires to ignite and spread rapidly.
On Friday, a wildfire engulfed homes at a tourist resort in Croatia, killing one person, injuring 40 and forcing 1,200 people to evacuate, authorities said. Meanwhile, the European Union warned that areas facing “very extreme” wildfire conditions were expanding across parts of the continent.
Hundreds more people were evacuated from villages in western Germany and southwestern France, while stranded holidaymakers were evacuated from beaches threatened by fires in Greece, and the Spanish military worked to protect historically significant sites.
