Lead

Greece faced multiple wildfire fronts on Sunday, with a growing damage toll and authorities warning of challenging days ahead. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis cautioned of "extremely difficult" conditions as fires continued to spread, while in France, the largest wildfire remained contained but still active after scorching vast areas of forest.

Coverage comparison

French outlet France 24 reported that a forest fire broke out on a mountain near Haidari, a suburb west of Athens, prompting a partial evacuation order on Friday. More than 105 firefighters and 29 vehicles were deployed to tackle the blaze, which was fanned by gale-force winds that hampered water-dropping aircraft. The same outlet noted that Greece faced multiple fire fronts, with nearly 500 firefighters battling blazes around the coastal village of Porto Germeno, and that authorities estimated some 16,000 hectares of land had been destroyed across the country.

The Guardian, meanwhile, focused on the divergent fronts across Europe, reporting that gale-force winds drove flames deeper into the Athens region, forcing fresh evacuations and threatening villages and an industrial district outside Megara. The paper also detailed the situation in France, where the Gironde megafire remained contained but still burned across 420 square kilometres of forest, and noted that Spain's major fires had stopped advancing.

Key claims

  • A forest fire broke out near Haidari, west of Athens, leading to partial evacuation orders, as reported by France 24.
  • More than 105 firefighters and 29 vehicles were deployed to the Haidari blaze, according to the fire department, as cited by France 24.
  • Gale-force winds hampered water-dropping aircraft, with only one helicopter able to collect water from the sea, as reported by France 24.
  • Nearly 500 firefighters were battling blazes around Porto Germeno, as reported by The Guardian and France 24.
  • The fire began Friday near Agios Vasileios before sweeping toward Porto Germeno, according to France 24.
  • Researchers estimate that some 16,000 hectares of land have been destroyed across Greece, as reported by France 24.
  • Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned of "extremely difficult" days ahead, as reported by both France 24 and The Guardian.
  • The Gironde megafire in France remained contained but was still burning after scorching 420 square kilometres of forest, as reported by The Guardian.
  • Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent, with human-caused climate change creating hot and dry conditions, as reported by France 24 and The Guardian.
  • Human-caused climate change doubled the likelihood of the extreme fire conditions that fuelled the French blazes, according to scientists cited by The Guardian.
  • The plumes of smoke and ash exposed millions of people to health-damaging air pollution, as reported by France 24.

Perspectives

Greek government

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis acknowledged the severity of the situation, stating that Greece faced "extreme weather conditions and winds" that often reached 100 kilometres per hour. He noted that such winds prevented even dozens of aircraft from operating safely, saying, "There are moments when nature and the intensity of weather phenomena surpass any human planning and any operational capability."

Scientists and researchers

Researchers and scientists have highlighted the role of human-caused climate change in exacerbating fire conditions. According to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, Europe has heated at more than twice the global average since the 1980s. Scientists at World Weather Attribution have estimated that human-caused climate change doubled the likelihood of the extreme fire conditions that fuelled the French blazes.