30-06-2025
Turkey wildfires: blazes race across provinces of Izmir and Manisa
Wildfires have raced across hillsides in western Turkey, tearing through the provinces of Izmir and Manisa, as a punishing heatwave tightens its grip on southern Europe.
The summer's first big heatwave has caused the authorities in several European countries, including France and Spain, to issue warnings about health, as well as the threat of wildfires, as temperatures reach 44C.
In Turkey, columns of smoke were seen billowing over olive groves and pine forests, turning the sky orange as dozens of fires burnt through homes and farms. Fire crews struggled to contain the outbreak, in which nine of the 77 fires were classed as 'major', as winds of more than 75mph hour grounded aerial water bombers.
The Seferihisar district of Izmir was evacuated as fires approached garden walls, and villagers scrambled to herd animals away from advancing flames. Three people affected by smoke were treated in hospital.
Yilmaz Tunc, the justice minister, said one person had been detained on suspicion of starting a fire with petrol in the Buca district of Izmir.
Since the start of June, Turkey has had nearly 1,500 fires. Ibrahim Yumakli, the agriculture and forestry minister, has said that human negligence has been to blame for many of them. Among the common causes were cigarette butts, picnic fires and Italy, Portugal and Spain have been sweltering for several days. 'This is unprecedented,' Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the French ecology transition minister, said as a record 84 of the nation's 96 mainland departments were put on the second-highest 'orange' heat alert.
Only a sliver of France, in the northwest, has not been sweltering, according to the Meteo France weather service, which also said that the heatwave was due to peak on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Huge fires broke out in the southern Aude region, apparently started by a poorly extinguished barbecue. Schools across France were closed and water was being handed out to passengers at train stations.
Countries along the Mediterranean's northern coast have been urging people to seek shelter. Ambulances were on standby near tourist hotspots as experts warned that heatwaves, intensified by climate change, would become more frequent.
Last week, Greek firefighters had to battle a forest blaze on the coast south of Athens that forced evacuations.
The Spanish weather service, AEMET, said that temperatures in Extremadura and Andalusia, in the south and southwest, had reached up to 44C at the weekend.
In Italy, 21 cities across the length of the country were on high alert for extreme heat, including Milan, Naples, Venice, Florence, Rome and Catania.
'We were supposed to be visiting the Colosseum, but my mum nearly fainted,' said Anna Becker, a British tourist who had travelled to Rome from a 'muggy, miserable' Verona.
Hospital emergency departments across Italy have reported a 10 per cent increase in heatstroke cases, according to Mario Guarino, vice-president of the Italian Society for Emergency Medicine. 'It is mainly elderly people, cancer patients or homeless people, presenting with dehydration, heat stroke, fatigue,' he said.
Several areas in the southern half of Portugal, including Lisbon, were under a red warning until Monday night.
