Video shows large forest fire near German border - flames are already spreading
Created: 07/26/2022 05:04
By: Richard Strobl, Bettina Menzel
The heat wave causes forest fires in Europe.
The fire on the island of Lesvos can even be seen from space.
Flames from the Czech Republic spread to the German side on Monday.
The news ticker.
Flames from the
Czech Republic
spread to
German territory
: 150 firefighters on duty.
Fires in
France
: Police assume at least three arson attacks.
Flames
reach
seaside resort
in
Greece
: The fire is visible even from space.
This news ticker is updated regularly.
Update from July 25, 10:16 p.m .:
Southern Europe does not rest: At the start of the week, emergency services in several holiday countries are also fighting forest fires.
At least in France and Spain, the situation eased somewhat - also on the holiday island of Tenerife.
The fire is losing strength and there is hope that the flames could be brought under control shortly, the newspaper
El Día
quoted island president Pedro Martín on Monday.
The situation in Greece is different: in the country, which was badly hit by forest fires, the fight against the flames continued on Monday.
Only with the fire that has been blazing for five days in the Dadia National Park in north-eastern Greece has there been a slight relaxation.
It rained there on Monday, but only lightly.
On the other hand, on the island of Lesbos, the Peloponnese peninsula, the Chalkidiki peninsula and near the Cretan capital Rethymno, there was no all-clear for the fires.
Spain: Where the flames were successfully fought, they left devastation in their wake, such as in the small town of Santibáñez del Val in the Spanish province of Burgos.
© Tomás Alonso/EUROPA PRESS/dpa +++ dpa picture radio +++
However, the heat wave in Europe is not over.
On the Spanish mainland in Murcia, Córdoba or Seville there was another heat warning on Monday.
Flames from the Czech Republic spread to German territory
Update from July 25, 8:40 p.m .:
More than 150 firefighters with 54 vehicles are currently fighting the flames in the Czech National Park Bohemian Switzerland.
The rocky landscape near the Elbe borders on Saxon Switzerland on the German side.
On Monday, the fire near the border with Saxony then spread to the German side.
At 4:20 p.m., the local fire department confirmed this in a message.
A recent video by the Czech fire brigade from Rumburk, shared by freelance reporter Julius Geiler, shows the flames spreading to the German side.
"The smoke goes as far as Görlitz," writes Geiler.
The fires are not under control, the wind keeps fanning the flames and the difficult-to-access terrain makes extinguishing work difficult.
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Fire fighting in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park in the Czech Republic near Hrensko.
On Monday, the flames also spread to the German side (archive photo, Sunday July 24).
© Hájek Ondøej/CTK/dpa +++ dpa picture radio +++
Forest fires in France: At least three of the fires were caused by arson
Update from July 25, 6:03 p.m .:
At least three forest fires were caused by arson in France.
Including one of the largest and still not extinguished fires in the Gironde region.
At times, 2,000 firefighters as well as fire-fighting planes and helicopters were deployed there, and around 20,000 hectares of land were destroyed.
First, the police were able to arrest a suspect, but had to release him again for lack of evidence.
In the two fires that broke out in Brittany last week, fire experts analyzed the starting points of the fires.
They were "undoubtedly of human origin," local prosecutor Carine Halley said on Monday.
Arson is a common cause of fire.
Around every sixth forest fire (16.8 percent) in Germany can be traced back to arson.
This is the result of statistics for the year 2021 from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Around a quarter of fires are caused by negligence.
A burnt car in a forest devastated by the forest fire near Pyla sur Mer in the Gironde region of southwest France.
A hunter walks past the wreck on Saturday (July 23) on his way to set up watering holes for wildlife.
© Philippe LOPEZ / AFP
Southern forest fire on western front and north-west under control
Update from July 25, 4:14 p.m
.: There is good news from the Greek island of Lesbos.
The forest fire in the south of the popular holiday island is under control on the western front and in the village of Stavros in the north-west, Greek media report, citing the deputy head of civil protection in western Lesvos.
Firefighting planes are still in use in the Rogada area.
However, concern remains that the wind could fan the flames again.
Fires in Greece: Police are looking for potential arsonists
Update from July 25, 3:02 p.m
.: In Greece, firefighters, military and volunteers are fighting the flames on the ground and in the air on the islands of Euboea and Lesbos and on the Chalkidiki peninsula.
In the Evros region, the forest in the national park is burning for the fifth day in a row.
A fire also broke out on Crete near the capital Rethymno during the day.
The extinguishing work in the west of the Peloponnese peninsula continued on Monday afternoon.
It's been burning there since Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Greek authorities are looking for potential arsonists.
A 63-year-old man suspected of being responsible for the recent fires on the island has been arrested on the island of Euboea.
Forest fire on holiday island Tenerife “stabilized”
Update from July 25, 12:09 p.m .:
The forest fire on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife has decreased in intensity.
The fire is losing strength and there is hope that the flames could be brought under control shortly, the newspaper
El Día
quoted island president Pedro Martín on Monday.
According to official information from Sunday, the flames have already destroyed more than 2150 hectares.
Around 150 firefighters were deployed.
Higher humidity and less wind made their work easier.
At around 30 degrees, the temperatures were also not as extremely high as before.
A fire-fighting helicopter pours water on a forest fire (photo from July 23) © Europa Press/dpa/picture alliance
The many other forest fires in Spain in recent weeks have since been extinguished or largely brought under control.
Forest fires in Greece: Fires on Lesvos still out of control
Update from July 25, 10:40 a.m .:
In Greece, large forest fires continued to rage on Monday night.
In the north-east of the country, there was a fire in the Dadia National Park for the fifth day in a row.
There were 320 firefighters with 68 fire engines, six firefighting planes, two helicopters supported by the military in action.
In the southern part of the island of Lesbos, the fire has also not yet been brought under control.
Thousands of hectares are said to have already burned there, the daily
Kathimerini
reported .
A large fire broke out on Sunday in the western Ilia regional district of the Peloponnese peninsula.
A tanker jet drops extinguishing agents to stop the spread of the Oak Fire in Mariposa County, California.
(Photo from July 24, 2022) © Noah Berger/dpa/picutre alliance
A forest fire that broke out near Yosemite National Park in California on Friday has continued to spread.
More than 6,000 hectares of land are now affected and the fire is still not contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said on Sunday.
Over 2,000 firefighters are deployed along with 17 firefighting helicopters to contain the flames.
The so-called Oak Fire is raging mainly in the Mariposa district east of San Francisco and has already destroyed ten houses and damaged five others.
More than 6,000 people were evacuated, according to a spokesman for the California Fire Department.
Forest fires in Slovenia: Duds from the First World War make extinguishing work difficult
Update from July 24, 10:28 p.m .:
The heat wave in Europe is also leading to extreme forest fires in Slovenia.
Firefighters have been battling the flames there for days.
On Sunday, 2,000 firefighters, civil protection officers and volunteers fought the forest fires in the Slovenian karst region.
"Inhumane efforts have been made, but now the end of the operation is near," said Defense Minister Marjan Sarec.
The winds in the region had reignited the flames again and again and made it particularly difficult for the emergency services.
In addition, duds from the First World War made extinguishing work more difficult.
In order not to endanger people on the ground unnecessarily, the Slovenian fire brigade increasingly relied on firefighting from the air.
Colleagues from Italy feared the flames would spread near Gorizia on the border with Slovenia at the weekend and took hundreds of people to safety as a precaution.
Forest fires in Greece: Fire on the island of Lesvos seen from space
Update from July 24, 7.40 p.m .:
The fires continued to rage uncontrollably on the Greek island of Lesbos on Sunday.
The smoke was so strong there that it could be seen from space.
This was announced by the European earth observation system Copernicus on Twitter and posted a corresponding satellite image.
Meanwhile, in northeastern Greece, countless hectares of the Dadia National Park burned.
The military and forest workers tried to cut aisles in the pine forests and thereby prevent the flames from spreading further.
In the meantime, more than 320 firefighters with 68 fire engines were deployed.
The extreme temperatures in Europe are causing drought, fires and deaths in many places.
Spain is suffering the worst heat wave since the 1950s.
By the end of July, more hectares of forest had burned there than in any other year since data collection began.
Portugal is experiencing the worst drought in around 20 years and more than 1,000 people have already died from the extreme heat.
In addition to the fires, Italy is also suffering from extreme water shortages.
Fires in Greece: Uncontrolled fires on Lesvos island and in Dadia National Park
Update from July 24, 3:10 p.m .:
The massive fires on the island of Lesvos and in the Dadia National Park in northeastern Greece also raged uncontrollably on Sunday.
On Lesbos, the residents of the village of Vrisa on the south side of the island were asked to leave the village at noon.
Fires rage in Greece: coastal town evacuated
Houses and cars fell victim to the flames.
According to the fire department, 141 fires were registered across Greece within 24 hours.
According to civil protection, almost all available fire-fighting helicopters and aircraft are currently in use nationwide.
In Spain, the situation eased - apart from the Canary Island of Tenerife.
Fire in Tenerife: Several communities evacuated
Among other things, a substation of the state electricity company caught fire near the city of Larisa in Thessaly.
Also on the western edge of the capital Athens must be deleted again.
For Monday, the fire brigade still assessed the risk of fire as high to very high.
Meteorologists announced high temperatures of up to 40 degrees and drought by the beginning of August.
Although the situation eased in Spain, the series of forest fires never ended.
A fire on Tenerife caused concern on Sunday.
The flames have already destroyed more than 2150 hectares on the island, which is popular with tourists, regional president Ángel Víctor Torres said late Saturday evening.
585 residents of La Guancha and four other communities in the north of the island have been brought to safety.
The approximately 150 emergency services have recently made great progress in fighting the fire, also thanks to higher humidity and weaker winds.
The temperature increase announced for Sunday and Monday up to 38 degrees is worrying.
"So we have to put out the fire as soon as possible," Torres said.
Italy preparing to fire from encroaching Slovenia
Meanwhile, around 350 people were brought to safety in Italy near Gorizia (Gorizia) on the border with Slovenia.
The reason is the fire in Slovenia, which could spread to Italy because of the strong wind, the fire brigade said on Sunday night.
The place Savogna d'Isonzo was affected.
Forest fire reaches seaside resort in Greece: beach and hotels evacuated
First report from July 24:
Athens – Forest fires continue to rage in southern Europe.
Greece is currently being hit particularly hard.
A major fire destroyed the forest of Dadia National Park, one of the largest forested areas in south-eastern Europe.
A second major fire raged on the south side of the holiday island of Lesvos.
The civil defense ordered the evacuation of the coastal town of Vatera.
Fire in Greece: Popular seaside resort has to be evacuated
On Saturday, the forest fire and the correspondingly heavy smoke reached the bathing resort popular with tourists.
Two hotels and more than 90 houses had to be evacuated, reports the
Tagesschau
, citing the local police.
A total of 450 people were brought to safety.
The Coast Guard had previously announced that they had evacuated the beach.
According to
dpa
information, residents of Vatera had sought shelter here.
At least ten houses in the village were damaged, local media reported.
Forest fires are raging in Greece - emergency services at the limit
The situation in the nature reserve of Dadia in north-eastern Greece remained difficult.
The flames destroyed a biotope where numerous birds of prey and wild animals live.
The area is densely forested and there are hardly any roads.
For this reason, the fire brigade is trying to contain the flames from the air with firefighting aircraft and helicopters, a spokesman for the fire brigade said on Saturday afternoon.
Most of Greece's 86 fire-fighting planes and helicopters are fighting the flames, according to civil defense.
Smaller fires were raging in the Peloponnese peninsula, Greek state radio reported.
Drought and high temperatures would hit almost all parts of Greece in the coming days and create "the perfect backdrop" for further fires, meteorologists warned on the radio.
Temperatures in central Greece were already around 38 degrees early on Saturday morning.
In some places, the thermometer should show values of more than 40 degrees Celsius in the afternoon, the meteorological office said.
It should be even hotter at the beginning of next week, and the heat will last until the beginning of August, it said.
(dpa/rjs)