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A three-kilometre wall of flames up to 30 metres high forced hundreds of tourists into the sea off northern Greece, as wildfires also tore across, Croatia, France and the UK amid a punishing summer heatwave.
More than 200 firefighters, water-bombing planes and helicopters battled for hours to stop a blaze spreading across the Halkidiki peninsula, south of Thessaloniki, as it bore down on the resorts of Siviri and Fourka, packed with summer tourists.
Judging evacuation by road too dangerous, officials sent around 500 tourists into small boats, coast guard vessels and fire brigade craft, including roughly 200 taken to a ship waiting offshore, while cars trying to flee by road became gridlocked.
“We are on the beach and looking for a way to get away,” one local homeowner, Sophia, told AFP, saying flames had already reached the town’s houses.
Two firefighters were hospitalised, and authorities banned public access to the region’s pine forests as forecasters warned of winds up to 100 km/h.
The fire was later brought under control, though crews stayed on alert for flare-ups.
Greece remains under its highest wildfire alert nationwide, still reeling from a blaze near Athens this month that killed two helicopter crew and burned 110 square kilometres of forest.
Coastal town evacuated
More than 150 firefighters battled a blaze that swept quickly from a pine forest into the tourist town of Lokva Rogoznica in Croatia, destroying homes and vehicles.
At least 1,000 displaced residents were sheltered in a sports hall in nearby Omis, and a coastal road was closed, causing long queues of traffic.
Croatia’s fire chief, Slavko Tucakovic, warned of a “difficult night ahead” as reinforcements were called in, with four Canadair water-bombers grounded until dawn.
Officials said strong winds had driven the fire’s spread and that some residents suffered burns. It followed a separate blaze on the island of Brac brought under control a day earlier, amid a heatwave setting record coastal temperatures.
Météo France placed four departments under its highest wildfire alert on Friday, warning that weather conditions make the risk of fires starting and spreading “very high compared with summer norms”.
Overnight, firefighters brought the Aude blaze near Carcassonne under control after saving 73 homes, while the Pas-de-Calais fire near Mont-Frieux remained active into Friday morning.
With the heatwave persisting, authorities across France are urging continued vigilance heading into the weekend.
Teenager detained over fatal blaze
A 15-year-old has been placed under formal investigation and held in juvenile detention over a forest fire near Bordeaux airport that killed two firefighters trapped in their truck on 21 July.
The deaths, along with that of a volunteer firefighter in southeast France, have angered fire unions, whose representatives met Interior Minister Laurent Nunez this week but said his commitments fell short, threatening strike action in September over inadequate resources.
A wildfire with multiple points of origin tore through homes near Stourbridge in the UK on the region’s hottest day of the year, damaging at least six properties and forcing evacuations.
Three firefighters and a child were hospitalised, while six others were treated for smoke inhalation.
West Midlands’ Chief Fire Officer Simon Tuhill called it “one of the most significant incidents” the service had ever attended, blaming rapid spread on “tinder-dry” conditions.
Nearly three-quarters of England is in drought, and Prime Minister Andy Burnham has urged retailers to limit sales of disposable barbecues.
Additional sources • AFP, AP
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