Journalism of Courage
As summer temperatures soared in Europe, southwestern France and Spain were embattled by raging wildfires on Saturday. In picture, a firefighting plane drops flame retardant to extinguish a fire in Guillos in the Gironde region France. (Reuters)
Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes. In pic, firefighter helicopters drop water in Alhaurin de la torre, Spain. (Reuters)
Helicopters extinguished the fire that has scorched over 3,000 hectares near Casas de Miravete in the Extremadura region in Spain. This fire has forced two villages to evacuate and can even reach the neighbouring Monfrague National Park. (Reuters)
At least 9,650 hectares have been torched in recent days as a result of the flames. According to Portuguese official media RTP, the yearly total amounts to more than 30,000 hectares, surpassing the annual estimate for 2021. The land mostly caught fire last week. (Reuters)
Firefighters tried saving as many homes as possible by surrounding at-risk villages with firetrucks on Saturday. The President said over 3,000 firefighters with assistance from water-dumping planes are fighting off the fire in southern France. Greece has also provided firefighting equipment for aid. (AP)
Some of the worst fires have been reported from Portugal one of which killed the pilot of a firefighting plane. The incident took place on Friday when the plane crashes during an operation in the northeast. This was the first fire-related fatally from Portugal this year. (AP)
Another blaze that began near the Mijas village in the Malaga province in southern Andalusia has endangered villages and forced 3,000 people to evacuate. Over 200 firefighters along with 18 airplanes were involved in the efforts to contain the fire. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire. (AP)
Around 10,000 people were evacuated from the two wildfires in the Bordeaux area of southwest France, which destroyed more than 7,000 hectares of land. Being one of the many places in Europe to have wildfires, the firefighting efforts in the region have been affected. (Reuters)
Amid heatwaves in Spain, with temperatures higher than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), temperature-related deaths have surged in many areas. During the high temperatures from July 10-14, 237 died due to high temperature according to Spain’s Carlos III Institute, which records temperature-related fatalities daily. (AP)
