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WILDFIRES ACROSS EUROPE caused by ongoing heatwaves have caused a number of evacuations, injuries and deaths as temperatures continue to exceed 40C in several regions.
In Greece, an estimated 5,000 people were evacuated from a town on the island of Crete after fires broke out last night. Hundreds of firefighters are currently tackling the blaze.
Two firefighters have been injured and over 100 people evacuated due to ongoing wildfires in Germany.
A man died in Turkey as three villages were evacuated as two wildfires broke out near Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city.
Scientists have warned that heatwaves and wildfires are becoming more common and lasting longer as a result of climate change.
In Germany, nearly 500 firefighters are battling the fires that broke out on Tuesday in the town of Gohrischheide on the border between the eastern states of Saxony and Brandenburg.
Two firefighters have suffered burns and were seriously injured battling the blaze so far.
The fires have burned hundreds of hectares, and are still not under control today.
A state police helicopter equipped with special cameras to detect pockets of embers has been deployed, German news agency dpa reported.
Firefighters were having difficulty getting close to the flames because parts of the wildfires were in a former military training area where there is a risk of ammunition detonating.
The villages of Heidehauser and Neudorf and parts of the village of Lichtensee were evacuated. Residents received mobile phone alerts directing them to only take essentials, especially identification and cash.
The notice advised them to inform neighbours and “cover your mouth and nose with improvised respiratory protection (cloth, piece of clothing, surgical mask)”.
District officials called on people travelling by car to avoid the region.
Severe heat in Germany and elsewhere across Europe in recent days has plagued residents and led to several wildfires across the continent.
On the Greek island of Crete, an estimated 5,000 people, including residents and tourists, have been evacuated from their homes today amid ongoing wildfires.
About 3,000 tourists and 2,000 residents had been moved, mostly overnight, as a “precaution” from areas close to the Crete resort town of Ierapetra, local officials said.
Around 270 firefighters, some deployed from Athens, as well as 10 helicopters and drones, are attempting to contain the blaze which broke out yesterday evening on the southeastern coast of the island.
Residents and tourists were taking shelter at an indoor stadium and some had left Crete by boat, authorities said. Local media reported some homes had been damaged.
Like the rest of Crete, Ierapetra – a seaside resort with a permanent population of 23,000 – accommodates thousands of tourists in the summer. The island’s arid, uneven landscape, criss-crossed by gullies, makes it hard for firefighters to tackle blazes.
In Turkey, two wildfires broke out near Izmir, Turkey’s third city.
In each case, three villages were evacuated.
“An elderly, bedridden patient could not be saved,” Salih Uzun, a lawmaker in Izmir for the opposition CHP party, said of the blaze close to Odemis.
“The biggest problem is the wind speed of up to 85 kilometres per hour (53 miles per hour) which is causing the fire to spread very quickly. And it constantly changes direction,” Izmir governor Suleyman Elban said.
“So the intervention from both land and air is seriously challenging,” he told reporters, saying the flames had cut off the main highway from Izmir city.
In both places, a total of “nine planes, 22 helicopters and 1,100 (fire trucks and other) vehicles are intensively fighting the fires”.
He said both fires in the province, as well as other that began at the weekend and have been brought under control, “were caused by power cables”.
Citing forestry ministry figures, meteorologist Ismail Kucuk told AFP “90 percent of forest fires” were due to man-made causes.
Power cables in particular posed a risk if they were not properly maintained, he said.
Experts say human-driven climate change is causing more frequent and more intense wildfires and other natural disasters, and have warned Turkey to take measures to tackle the problem.
With reporting from AFP
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