Southern Europe burns as 3 firefighters die; France battles blaze 4 times the size of Paris
Severe wildfires are ravaging southern Europe, causing three deaths in Greece and forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate in France and Spain. Firefighters are struggling to contain the blazes amid extreme heat, drought, and high winds.
Why it matters
The increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires in Europe highlight the escalating impact of climate change on public safety and infrastructure.
An uncontained wildfire four times the size of Paris threatened to surge again in southwest France on Wednesday (July 30, 2026), as three firefighters died in Greece and crews across southern Europe confronted a punishing mix of heat, drought and strong winds.
The deaths on Crete brought a fatal new dimension to a wildfire emergency stretching from the Atlantic coast to the eastern Mediterranean. At the peak of the evacuations, a third of a million people were driven from homes and vacation sites in France and Spain.
In France's Gironde region, the country's biggest blaze had not spread during a calm night, authorities said. But as temperatures approached 40 degrees Celsius on Wednesday afternoon and winds strengthened, the reprieve threatened to be short-lived.
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