****
More than 1100 deaths in Spain linked to heat wave.
*****
3:13
Reportedly more than 1100 deaths in
3:15
Spain have been linked to the heat wave.
3:20
I am said a 10-day period within the
3:23
last heat wave covering from 8th to 17th
3:25
of August was the hottest 10 consecutive
3:28
days recorded in Spain since at least
3:30
1950.
3:33
The agency said it was a scientific fact
3:35
that current summers are hotter than in
3:38
previous decades.
3:43
Look at these aerial visuals.
3:46
These images by the Spanish air forces
3:48
show mountains engulfed in flames and
3:50
smoke in the northwest of the country.
4:00
Spain has counted at least four deaths
4:02
since the start of the heatwave that has
4:04
ravaged the country.
4:08
High temperatures in Spain have sparked
4:10
multiple wildfires in Galysia, Leon, and
4:13
Gazeres. According
4:22
to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior,
4:24
over 13,600 members of the state
4:27
security forces have been deployed to
4:29
fight the fires.
4:32
Around 575 residents of several towns in
4:35
Salamanca were evacuated due to the
4:37
blazes.
4:45
I don't know what I'm going to do with
4:47
my life. My children don't have a home.
4:49
I don't have enough to recover what I
4:51
lost. I don't have it.
5:02
All of my grandparents' efforts, my
5:04
grandparents built it house. My mother
5:07
grew up in there and raised five sons in
5:09
there. I am the eldest son and well,
5:20
memories of my mother, photographs,
5:22
things I'll never recover. They cannot
5:24
be recovered. The house and things we'll
5:26
have to carry on. It can be done. But
5:28
the memories I was raised here, nothing
5:31
can erase that.
5:37
For senior citizens taking refuge in
5:39
Benvente, a town in a zone ravaged by
5:42
vast wildfires in Spain, it is both
5:45
distressing and challenging.
5:49
According to official statistics, Zamora
5:52
has the greatest concentration of
5:54
residents in Spain aged over 80,
5:57
representing 12.3% of the province's
6:00
population.
6:02
Or in the neighboring region of Galysia,
6:05
also weathering wildfires, was close
6:08
behind with 12.1%.
6:13
The fires burning in the north and west
6:15
of Spain have destroyed more than
6:17
350,000 hectares in the past weeks.
6:22
Many of the elderly shared a common
6:24
fear. That of irreparable loss and the
6:27
requirement of needing to rebuild a
6:29
house and a life, but then lacking the
6:32
energy and the money to do either.
6:36
Criminal. We had to run because the fire
6:39
was coming from all sides. From
6:41
everywhere, from above, from below, from
6:44
everywhere.
6:50
When they arrived between my
6:52
grandfather, myself, and an elderly
6:54
gentleman who lives in that house and is
6:56
90 years old, we had already put out the
6:59
fire in this area with hoses and
7:01
buckets. But there came a point when all
7:04
the flames arrived that we all thought
7:06
that we were not going to make it.
7:10
Thousands of firefighters aided by
7:12
soldiers and waterbombing aircraft
7:14
fought wildfires that were tearing
7:16
through parched woodland and were
7:18
especially severe in northwestern Spain.
7:24
Spain had deployed over 500 soldiers
7:27
from the military emergency unit to
7:29
support firefighting operations as it
7:31
battled 20 major wildfires across the
7:34
country.
7:40
[Music]
7:41
To help battle raging wildfires, the
7:43
European Union sent two firefighting
7:45
planes to Spain after the country
7:48
activated the block's disaster
7:49
assistance mechanism for the first time.
7:54
The assistance comes as the country
7:56
recorded a record wildfire related
7:59
death.
8:01
Spain is the fifth European nation to
8:03
request assistance with fighting
8:05
wildfires.
8:07
On the 23rd of August, the state
8:09
authorities said that Spain has almost
8:11
beaten back wildfires that have swept
8:14
across the country, ravaging huge swats
8:17
of land.
8:22
Today is a day of optimism, of moderate
8:24
optimism, of optimism that must remain
8:27
cautious, optimistic because, as you can
8:29
see, the number of active fires in
8:32
operational status 2 in our country has
8:34
dropped significantly. There are 13
8:37
fires, but we must remain very attentive
8:39
to the developments. We cannot let our
8:41
guard down because we are at a crucial
8:43
moment with the weather still favorable
8:45
enough to finally put an end to the
8:46
terrible suffering these fires have
8:48
caused.
8:56
The neighboring Portugal has been under
8:57
a state of alert since the start of
8:59
August. Large rural fires have killed at
9:02
least two people and caused several
9:05
injuries. According to the latest data
9:07
from the Institute for Nature
9:08
Conservation and Forests, wildfires have
9:11
burnt about 1,550
9:14
square kilmters of vegetation in
9:15
Portugal so far this year.
9:20
More than 3,200 firefighters battled
9:23
major fires, most concentrated in the
9:26
towns of Araganil and Satau.
*****
Portugal hit by multiple wildfires since July
*****
Mainland
9:29
Portugal has been hit by multiple
9:31
wildfires since July, particularly in
9:34
the north and central regions.
9:37
The largest of them was near Podao, a
9:40
scenic mountainous area popular with
9:42
tourists.
9:44
Another blaze in Tranoso, farther north,
9:47
raged for 8 days.
9:50
[Music]
9:52
For Jose Diaz, a 77year-old chestnut
9:55
producer who lives in a Portuguese
9:56
village of Terreno, losses caused by
9:59
wildfires are too severe.
10:03
The land where Diaz grew chestnuts was
10:05
burnt down, and he fears it might take
10:08
10 years to recover from the losses.
10:12
[Music]
10:13
I was born here. The situation is this.
10:15
We have so many firefighters here and my
10:18
house will probably burn. We are here
10:20
watching it all. People here only have
10:23
one good to sell with good market
10:25
prices. Chestnuts. I will lose tons of
10:28
chestnuts. It will take 10 years to
10:29
recover if I still continue with this
10:31
business because I'm 77 years old and
10:34
I'm watching here something that I had
10:36
never seen in this parish before.
10:39
I don't want to.
10:42
In another heartbreaking incident,
10:44
emergency teams dragged an elderly
10:46
resident of the Portuguese village of
10:48
Benende as she desperately tried to
10:51
protect her house from the flames by
10:53
hosing down her garden and sidewalk.
11:05
[Music]
11:08
INBbody.
11:29
[Laughter]
11:51
Even residents of the Portuguese village
11:53
of Proba carried buckets with water and
11:56
used their garden hose. es to try to
11:58
stop wildfires from reaching their
12:00
homes. They joined the efforts of
12:02
thousands of firefighters who were
12:04
battling large blazes in central and
12:06
northern parts of the country.
12:10
While Proba praised fire brigades, some
12:12
residents like Jo Martins complained
12:15
about the lack of commitment from
12:16
politicians.
12:19
Politicians only want to party food and
12:21
drinks. Parties only parties instead of
12:23
doing what they should do. They only
12:25
want parties.
12:29
On the 21st of August, fire brigades and
12:31
residents of the central Portuguese town
12:33
of Castellon Noo battled wildfires. At
12:36
least three people have been killed in
12:38
Portugal's wildfires over the past week.
12:44
It has been the most severe year for
12:46
forest fires in the Iberian country
12:48
since 2017
12:50
when two huge blazes months apart killed
12:53
more than 100 people in central
12:55
Portugal.
12:58
Fear. So much fear. We were about to
13:00
leave. And when we arrived at the train
13:03
station and saw everything on fire, I
13:05
said, "I'm not going home because I'm
13:07
scared. It's impossible to explain how
13:10
bad the fire was. The roundabout was in
13:12
flames. The fire spread from here to the
13:15
other side and everything caught fire at
13:17
the same time.
13:19
[Music]
13:21
Much like Spain, Portugal has also
13:23
activated the European civil protection
13:25
mechanism, letting it seek emergency
13:27
assistance.
13:39 Several wildfires have broken out across
13:42
Greece, mainly in forested areas on the
13:44
mainland away from tourist hotspots.
13:54
There have also been fires on the
13:56
islands of Sephalonia, Sakintos, and
13:58
Kios. Fires have burned houses, farms,
14:02
and factories and prompted evacuation of
14:04
thousands of residents and tourists.
14:08
[Music]
14:13
Take a look at this drone footage taken
14:15
on the 14th of August. The visuals show
14:17
the extended impact of a wildfire that
14:20
scorched parts of northwestern Pelponese
14:23
for 3 days, leaving a trail of
14:25
destruction across the region around
14:26
Patras, where more than 500 vehicles
14:29
were seen reduced to rubble.
14:37
As Giorgios Mabro stepped into the ruins
14:39
of his home in Volosos on the northern
14:42
Iagan island of Kios, he broke down. The
14:45
60-year-old stood among the broken roof
14:48
tiles and walls. Recollecting how his
14:50
father built the house back in 1982,
14:53
surrounded by the debris, Mro said he
14:56
cannot imagine starting from scratch at
14:58
his age. No.
15:05
My father built this home in 1982 with a
15:08
proper license. My brother and I were
15:10
kids. And now it has utterly burned in
15:12
2025. It was my only home. What am I
15:16
supposed to do? Build a home from
15:18
scratch? I am 60 years old with two kids
15:20
in university. My daughter is studying
15:23
in Vololos. She left to come to Visos
15:25
for two months to work as a
15:26
receptionist. And now all her stuff
15:28
burned in here. Her degrees, her
15:30
personal items, her laptop, everything.
15:49
Farm animals and pets were rushed to
15:51
safety as wildfires ravaged the Greek
15:53
port city of Petras. A farmer navigating
15:56
smoke-filled roads on his motorbike
15:58
carried a sheep to safety. Another man
16:01
fled advancing fire lines and ran with
16:03
his goats. In other places, residents
16:06
were evacuated from their homes,
16:08
carrying pets and rescuing frightened
16:10
livestock away from the flames.
16:13
[Music]
16:17
Locals on the island of Kios attempted
16:19
to douse a wildfire, threatening a yard
16:21
full of horses in the early hours of the
16:24
13th of August.
16:27
Video footage showed leaping orange
16:29
flames approaching the horse enclosure
16:31
as a man fought the flames with a hose.
16:35
The horses were immediately taken to
16:37
safety.
16:42
Major wildfires broke out in Albania,
16:44
too. People were forced to flee with no
16:47
time to save their livestock.
16:51
After the fires subsided, these
16:53
heart-wrenching scenes started emerging
16:55
out. A veterinarian administered
16:57
antibiotics and applied lotion to a
17:00
horse that sustained burns in Belvina,
17:02
one of the worst affected towns in the
17:04
south of the country.
17:07
The injured horse began eating and
17:09
drinking after receiving treatment. A
17:12
donkey with burns was also under care.
17:23
France's largest wildfire for 75 years
17:26
burned through an area larger than
17:29
Paris.
17:32
Drone footage from the 8th of August
17:34
show the extent of destruction of
17:36
France's biggest wildfire in almost 8
17:38
decades. With trees blackened, houses
17:41
and cars charred, and wide patches of
17:44
forest ground covered in ash. The
17:47
massive wildfire went through 16,000
17:49
hectares of forest and villages in
17:52
southern France.
17:56
On the 26th of August, a French
17:58
firefighter helicopter crashed into a
18:00
pond while trying to collect water to
18:02
fight wildfires.
18:09
Look at this eyewitness video.
18:13
Reportedly, the aircraft lost balance
18:15
during the operation and went into a
18:17
tail spin before hitting the water.
18:28
Both the pilot and the firefighter on
18:30
board escaped safely.
18:32
[Music]
18:40
The forest fires were not just limited
18:42
to Europe. This summer, hundreds of
18:44
wildfires have broken out across Turkey
18:47
as well, forcing tens of thousands of
18:49
people to evacuate their homes.
18:53
In July, at least 10 forestry and rescue
18:55
workers were killed while battling
18:57
wildfires in the city of Eskisher. The
19:00
city's airport and the Dardinell's
19:02
straight as well as a part of the
19:04
highway were shut down due to the
19:06
wildfires for several hours on the 11th
19:08
of August before reopening.
19:10
[Music]
19:13
Helicopters were seen taking water from
19:15
the Darnell's strait and dowsing the
19:18
wildfires
19:20
while police vehicles worked to
19:22
extinguish flames that had spread to
19:24
residential buildings in the area.
19:30
In the Salifa district of Merin, the
19:32
fire began in a forest area on the 13th
19:34
of August and prompted the evacuation of
19:36
six villages and five hamlets.
19:41
It destroyed several homes overnight
19:43
despite firefighters continuous efforts
19:46
to contain it. Overnight video showed
19:48
houses engulfed in flames while
19:50
firefighters dowsed them.
19:54
The facads of the houses were charred,
19:56
windows broken, and gardens burned.
20:00
Helicopters joined the effort, dropping
20:02
water from the air as firefighters
20:04
resumed operations from the ground.
20:09
We cannot say the risk is over until the
20:11
efforts to extinguish fires fully are
20:13
completed. Both the lack of humidity,
20:16
the dry air, as well as the strong
20:18
northeasterly winds make the job much
20:20
more difficult.
20:26
[Music]
20:28
It's not just Europe where wildfires
20:30
have wre havoc. Across the Atlantic,
20:33
places in North America, too, are
20:35
reeling under the impact of devastating
20:37
wildfires.
*****
Several wildfires across Greece, mainly in forested areas
*****
20:40
Let's take a look at where else
20:42
wildfires have caused destruction.
20:53
A large wildfire tore through central
20:55
Oregon on the 24th of August. Known as
20:58
the flat fire, the blaze about 3.2 km
21:02
northeast of the town of Sisters was
21:04
active since the 21st of August.
21:08
In just 2 days, it scorched more than
21:10
21,000 acres.
21:13
Firefighters sprayed down the hills
21:15
scorched by a wildfire. As of 25th of
21:18
August, the fire was only 5% contained.
21:22
Multiple wildfires have ignited across
21:24
California as the state continues to
21:26
endure a scorching heat wave.
21:31
The largest of these is the Picket Fire,
21:33
which erupted on August 21 and spread in
21:36
a remote area of Napa County.
21:40
By the following day, it had burned more
21:42
than 3,200 acres.
21:45
Evacuation orders and warnings were
21:47
issued for hundreds of residents around
21:50
Kalistoga as firefighters faced
21:52
challenging conditions while battling
21:54
the blaze. They contended with
21:57
dangerously high temperatures and rugged
22:00
terrain.
22:03
On the afternoon of the 7th of August,
22:05
wildfires raged through a remote area
22:08
east of Lake Peru in California. It
22:10
quickly burned almost 5,000 acres by the
22:13
evening.
22:18
Last night when these men were here,
22:22
the fire, the flames, the actual flames
22:27
started back in back of this house and
22:30
they wrapped all the way around
22:33
180 degrees on that ridge all
22:36
simultaneous. It was a firework show for
22:41
6 hours.
22:48
[Music]
22:51
It's devastating to see everything all
22:54
black, all the trees gone, and poor
22:57
little animals, the ground animals. You
23:00
got to feel sorry for them. You know,
23:03
this morning at my house, we seen five
23:07
deer that came down looking for water.
23:10 Remember, in January this year, a series
23:12
of 14 destructive wildfires affected the
23:15
Los Angeles metropolitan area and San
23:17
Diego County in California.
23:20
Among these, the Palisades fires were
23:23
one of the most destructive to occur in
23:25
the history of the city of Los Angeles.
23:34
Wildfires have become a common
23:35
occurrence in the summers,
23:38
but heatwave conditions often exacerbate
23:40
their severity.
23:42
Materologists say such extremes are
23:45
becoming more frequent and intense due
23:47
to humaninduced climate change.
23:51
We we often hear um in the media that so
23:55
many hectares of forest have been
23:57
destroyed and so much land has been
23:58
destroyed. But we have to remember that
24:00
fire is a natural feature of many
24:03
environments. The Mediterranean, the
24:05
boral forest, these regions are used to
24:07
fire and the vegetation will normally
24:09
recover. It's often us humans that are
24:11
in the way of the fire. And the more we
24:13
fight fires, the more we prevent fires
24:15
from burning, the more the forest will
24:18
accumulate vegetation and the more
24:19
flammable it gets. So the firefighters
24:22
have a very difficult um choice to
24:24
either fight the fire and therefore have
24:26
a future fire being more severe or
24:28
perhaps let it burn in some areas and
24:31
thereby reducing the risk for fire in
24:33
the future.
24:34
[Music]
24:37
Whether caused by humans or nature, when
24:39
fires burn out of control, they become
24:42
wildfires. And in recent years, the
24:44
world has experienced a significant
24:45
change in wildfire patterns.
24:50
Record setting blazes are becoming the
24:52
new normal. While much has been written
24:55
about preventing wildfires and
24:56
mitigating fire risks, there seems to be
24:59
no foolproof solution to the problem as
25:01
yet.
25:04
[Music]
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