Scorching Heatwave Sparks Wildfires in Europe

A Canadair firefighting aircraft dumps water over a wildfire in Landiras, southwestern France, on July 13, 2022. (AFP)
A Canadair firefighting aircraft dumps water over a wildfire in Landiras, southwestern France, on July 13, 2022. (AFP)
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Scorching Heatwave Sparks Wildfires in Europe

A Canadair firefighting aircraft dumps water over a wildfire in Landiras, southwestern France, on July 13, 2022. (AFP)
A Canadair firefighting aircraft dumps water over a wildfire in Landiras, southwestern France, on July 13, 2022. (AFP)

Over 20 wildfires raged across Portugal and several burned in western Spain on Wednesday, menacing villages and disrupting tourists' holidays amid a heatwave that meteorologists expect to push temperatures into the high 40s Celsius.

In France too, about 800 firefighters, supported by six water-bomber aircraft, were battling two wildfires in the southwest, which have already prompted the evacuation of thousands of campers, Gironde prefect Fabienne Buccio said.

In Portugal's southern Algarve region, popular with tourists, authorities blocked access to the Quinta do Lago luxury resort and golf course as thick plumes of smoke rose from an area next to it.

"A fire is entering an urban area, with a lot of dry vegetation that, with small sparks, quickly becomes a secondary fire. We are concerned and that is what we are telling people," said Richard Marques, a civil protection worker in the area.

In the central district of Leiria north of Lisbon, where temperatures soared to 45 degrees Celsius (113°F), authorities blocked a major motorway. Flames and thick smoke could be seen on both sides of the road, while helicopters and aircraft dropped water.

Villagers who have not been evacuated poured water on the roofs of their homes.

Nearly 800 firefighters were combating two active blazes in the area, while in the whole of mainland Portugal 2,124 firefighters, backed by 28 aircraft, were fighting 24 forest blazes.

Nearly all of mainland Portugal was on red alert for extreme heat conditions, with the highest temperatures of 45 C in the central Santarem and Leiria districts, the IPMA weather institute said. The country's record temperature of 47.3 C was registered in 2003.

Campsites evacuated

More than 2,700 hectares have been burnt so far in France's Gironde region, prefect Buccio told BFM TV. The biggest of the two fires is around the town of Landiras, south of Bordeaux, where roads have been closed and 500 residents evacuated.

The other one is along the Atlantic Coast, close to the iconic "Dune du Pilat" - the tallest sand dune in Europe - located in the Arcachon Bay area, above which heavy clouds of dark smoke were seen rising in the sky.

That fire led to the preventive evacuation of 6,000 people from five surrounding campsites. They were taken for shelter to a local exhibition center.

"Other campers woke us up at around 4:30 in the morning. We had to leave immediately and quickly choose what to take with us," Christelle, one of the evacuated tourists, told BFM TV.

On the eve of Bastille Day, the Gironde prefecture has forbidden all fireworks until Monday in towns and villages in close proximity to forests.

The World Meteorological Organization warned on Tuesday the heatwave was spreading and intensifying in large parts of Europe.

With human-caused climate change triggering droughts, the number of extreme wildfires is expected to increase 30% within the next 28 years, according to a February 2022 UN report.

Searing temperatures also swept across China's vast Yangtze River basin on Wednesday; firefighters tackled a forest fire near the tourist town of Datca in Turkey; and power demand in Texas hit an all-time high as consumers cranked up their air conditioners to escape the heat.

In Spain's western region of Extremadura bordering Portugal firefighters evacuated a few hundred villagers overnight as a precaution and continued to battle a blaze that on Tuesday swept into Salamanca province in the region of Castile and Leon.

Parts of Extremadura, Andalusia and Galicia regions were on red alert for extreme heat, Spain's AEMET meteorology service said, adding that temperatures could surpass the previous record of 47.4 C for all of Spain set in August 2021, and of 40.7 C in the capital Madrid.



US Air Force Looks to Upgrade Cyprus Airbase as Humanitarian Staging Post for the Middle East

A view of a Greek Air Force F-16 aircraft after landing at Cyprus’ Andreas Papandreou Air Base near the southwestern coastal city of Paphos, Cyprus, Tuesday, Aug.25, 2020. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
A view of a Greek Air Force F-16 aircraft after landing at Cyprus’ Andreas Papandreou Air Base near the southwestern coastal city of Paphos, Cyprus, Tuesday, Aug.25, 2020. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
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US Air Force Looks to Upgrade Cyprus Airbase as Humanitarian Staging Post for the Middle East

A view of a Greek Air Force F-16 aircraft after landing at Cyprus’ Andreas Papandreou Air Base near the southwestern coastal city of Paphos, Cyprus, Tuesday, Aug.25, 2020. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
A view of a Greek Air Force F-16 aircraft after landing at Cyprus’ Andreas Papandreou Air Base near the southwestern coastal city of Paphos, Cyprus, Tuesday, Aug.25, 2020. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)

Experts from the US Air Force are looking at ways to upgrade Cyprus’ premier air base for use as a humanitarian staging post in future operations in the Middle East, a Cypriot official told The Associated Press Thursday.

Cyprus, which is only 184 kilometers (114 miles) from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has acted as a transit point for the repatriation of foreign nationals fleeing conflict in the Middle East and beyond on numerous occasions in the past. It has also served as a transit point for humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Experts from the 435th Contingency Response Group based out of Ramstein, Germany, will spend the next few days at Andreas Papandreou Air Force Base to assess the upgrade needed to accommodate a wide array of US air assets and other forces.

A key priority is to ensure air traffic safety in and around the base, which abuts the island's second-largest civilian airport, the official said. The base's location makes it easy to transfer evacuees onto civilian aircraft at the adjacent airport for their trip home.

The official spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to speak publicly about the details of the experts’ visit.

Air traffic safety would need to be enhanced through new high-tech installations, including state-of-the-art radar, to ensure the independent operation of civilian and military aircraft at safe distances.

“The Americans are very specific on safety issues and want to make some upgrades to further improve the base’s safety,” the official said.

Other essential upgrades include expanding both the base itself and the runway to accommodate more transport and fighter aircraft. Hardened shelters to protect those air assets are also envisioned.

The Cyprus government agreed to the air base upgrade assessment following the recent deployment of a US Marine contingent at the base. The Marines, who were equipped with V-22 Osprey tiltrotor military transport and cargo aircraft, were on stand-by in the event of a swift evacuation of US citizens from nearby Lebanon during Israel’s strikes against Hezbollah targets late last year.

Deputy government spokesman Yannis Antoniou told the state broadcaster Thursday that any use of the base by the forces of the US or other nations would require prior Cyprus government approval. He insisted the air base would not act as a forward base for military strike operations against targets in the region.

“We’ve shown interest in working with (US Forces) because we consider this to serve the vital interests of the Cyprus Republic,” Antoniou said, adding that in their report, the USAF experts will offer an estimate of the upgrade costs and which percentage of those the US government would be willing to cover.

Bilateral relations between European Union member Cyprus and the US, especially in terms of military cooperation, have grown significantly over the last few years following a pledge by Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides to affirm the ethnically divided country’s “clear Western orientation.”

A manifestation of those ties was last week’s directive by former President Joe Biden that allows Cyprus to buy arms from the US government and get surplus American military equipment.

The Cypriot government noted the development as a tangible acknowledgment of Cyprus’ reliability as a US partner in the region.