LE PORGE: Wildfires sweeping through parts of Italy, France and Spain on Thursday forced thousands of people to flee blazes fanned by scorching temperatures and strong winds.

Three firefighters have been killed as southern Europe endures another spell of severe heat, with temperatures topping 40C in some areas. The total area of land burnt this year in European Union countries is the second largest on record, according to satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). Tourists and locals have told of desperate escapes from flames.

“The gendarmes came and knocked on every door, the fire was about 500 metres away — we grabbed some things and left,” said Patrick Martineau, a 69-year-old resident of Le Porge, south of the French city of Bordeaux.

In Sicily, around 6,000 firefighters, forest guards and civil protection officers battled dozens of fires raging for days across the Italian island. One firefighter died after falling ill while battling the flames, the interior minister said.

Experts say fires ‘being fuelled by very high temperatures and very dry soil’

A spokesperson for Italy’s Civil Protection Agency said that the fires were “being fuelled by very high temperatures and very dry soil”. More than 160 fires have also been recorded in Calabria region, with the local civil protection chief saying arsonists had tied rags soaked in flammable liquid to the tails of stray cats to spread the flames.

Around Bordeaux, more than 20,000 people — mostly tourists in campsites and holiday lets — have been evacuated since Wednes­day, as a fire ravaged a seaside pine forest.

“We’re dealing with a very dense stand of closely packed pines,” firefighter captain Wilfried Schneider said, describing a fire of “rare” intensity. No casualties have been reported — and authorities said the inferno had been contained on one flank — but two firefighters died on Tuesday tackling another blaze near Bordeaux airport.

‘No chance’

“We were on the beach and they told us to go back to the campsite to collect our things,” said Belgian tourist Elke Urbain, 50. “We’re not afraid because everyone is taking care of us, but we’re sad for the people here.” Le Porge mayor Martial Zaninetti said the fire appeared to have been sparked by a brush-clearing machine, though police were investigating the cause.

Skies over Le Porge turned orange as smoke rose from charred and crackling pine trees, while helicopters made repeated runs over evacuated neighbourhoods.

Fires in 2022 damaged 30,000 hectares (75,000 acres) of the same forest, forcing some 50,000 people to be evacuated. Fires are breaking out faster because of climate change caused by the burning of oil, coal and gas. European droughts are now more severe, climatologists from the World Weather Attribution group said in a study published on Thursday.

Across the border in Spain, progress against a major wildfire south of Madrid allowed most residents to return Thursday, emergency services said. The blaze, which broke out near the city of Toledo, prompted authorities to evacuate several districts as flames advanced towards homes.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2026