Over 320,000 evacuated as wildfires in Europe worsen

Europe is facing its deadliest heatwaves yet. Since July 22, temperatures have led to detrimental wildfires that have been threatening the safety of hundreds of thousands.

Spain has been met with the worst conditions, with record-breaking fires hitting Madrid hard; Ávila, Toledo and Castellón have urgently evacuated citizens to Southern Europe as wildfires burn beyond control. The Ávila fire alone burned 123,552 acres.

The Spanish government declared a national emergency in Madrid and Ávila due to the fast-moving wildfires. Helping the nation, Italy, Portugal and Greece have provided personnel, aircrafts and support vehicles. To combat the flames across France, 2,500 firefighters have been on duty alongside 1,500 military personnel and 1,200 police officials. They have been successful in containing the Gironade region fires, but Greece, southern Italy and Portugal are still enduring dangerous, uncontained fires.

Before being extinguished, the Gironade fire burned roughly 2.5 acres. French fires burned approximately 286,642 acres of land.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, said, “safeguard lives, protect communities and fight the fires.”

The wildfire crisis worsened primarily due to dry vegetation, months-long drought in forests, strong winds, and the large fires overloading firefighters and outnumbering their resources.

Affected areas are expected to receive heavy government support once they begin recovering from the fires.