Forest fires force 13,600 people to leave homes and camps in Europe

Extreme heat and increasingly severe drought have been fueling fires in parts of the continent, and scientists warn that climate change is worsening water shortages on the continent.

In the southwest of French territory, at least 10 thousand people were evacuated from homes and camps during the early hours of this Thursday (23).

Firefighters are fighting two large fires in the region. One of them, in Le Porge, near the city of Bordeaux, had already spread over 3,400 hectares by this Thursday, according to the latest estimate from firefighters.

"The police knocked on every door. The fire was 500 meters away," Patrick Martineau, 69, resident of Le Porge, told AFP. "We're scared and it's hard to understand. It's surreal. When we bought here six years ago, we didn't think about the fire risk."

According to several sources consulted by AFP, the fire probably started during vegetation clearing work on a forestry road.

The other fire, which started on Tuesday (21) in a field and spread across the department of Var (southern France), devastated 2,500 hectares and more than 300 people were evacuated from the region.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez stated that more than 12,500 fires have been recorded since the beginning of the year and 44,000 hectares have been burned.

In France, forest fires have never consumed so much land at this time of year. Spain and Italy are also facing one of their worst years.

PREVENTIVE ACTION IN SPAIN

Spain decided to preventively remove the 3,500 inhabitants of Aldea del Fresno, west of Madrid.

This village is very close to other smaller villages whose residents were displaced on Wednesday night (22). This Thursday, with the situation improving, most of them were able to return home.

In recent days, several fires have been declared in the country. The most worrying situation is on the other side of Madrid, in the province of Guadalajara, about 100 km north of the capital. There, the fire has devastated 32 thousand hectares since the 16th.

Spain's rail infrastructure operator, ADIF, said train service between Mejorada del Campo and Alcalá de Henares, near Madrid, had been suspended due to a fire near the tracks. The disruption affected services on the high-speed line linking Madrid and Barcelona, ??one of the country's busiest transport corridors.

In total, around 125,000 hectares have burned since January 1 in Spain, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

PATIENT REMOVAL IN ITALY

In Italy, dozens of forest and vegetation fires are devastating Sicily, according to Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi.

Firefighters said on Wednesday that they had to move 100 local residents and 22 patients from a clinic in the center of the island, where temperatures have exceeded 40°C in recent days.

A spokesman for Italy's Civil Protection Agency told AFP the fires were being fueled by very high temperatures and very dry soil.

More than 160 fires were also reported in the last 24 hours in neighboring Calabria.

DROUGHT DEPLETING WATER

Several European countries are suffering from drought this summer.

France fears its smallest corn harvest in 50 years, Romania has restricted farmers' access to irrigation water, while the Netherlands has declared a water shortage. Hose bans have been established in London and seven Greek islands have declared emergencies to preserve water.

In a report also released this Thursday, scientists say that climate change is altering the way droughts form in Europe. The analysis, by the World Weather Attribution group of climate scientists, said extreme heat accelerates the evaporation of water from the soil.

The challenges are driving creative solutions locally. In the Galicia region of northwestern Spain, communities have reintroduced native livestock to rebalance ecosystems and reduce wildfires in an area that was the epicenter of the country's worst fire year in 2025.

A specific species of cattle, the agile Cachena, known locally as "goat cow", is being used to graze and eliminate undergrowth - which acts as a powder keg for fires.

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