Fires in Europe and Canada keep tens of thousands in suspense: “to scream”

Tenerife / Victoria: Fierce bushfires keep tens of thousands of people in suspense again. It is currently burning in Tenerife, Greece and Canada. The tragedy in Hawaii is still fresh in the minds of many. However, experts are not surprised by these events.

People filled their eyes with fear and left their homes with few possessions. The sky was obscured by dark smoke for several days. Flames burning closer and closer to populated areas. Scorching heat, stifling air and wailing fire brigade sirens. Two weeks after devastating wildfires in Hawaii left at least 114 dead, fires in many places are keeping tens of thousands of people on edge. On Sunday, fires continued to burn, especially on the Canary Island of Tenerife, which is popular with holidaymakers, in Greece and several provinces in Canada.

No casualties have been reported anywhere so far. But the suffering is great. For example, in Tenerife: “We panicked (…) it’s a disaster for us Canarios,” retired Antonio Jimenez told the regional digital newspaper “Canarias Ahora”. Despite all the agonizing fear, the 65-year-old and his wife stayed with their animals for the first few nights after the fire broke out on Tuesday evening – until they left their finca for the weekend. Another evicted woman told TV: “It makes you cry.”

In Tenerife, flames have already covered 10,000 hectares of nature. This corresponds to the area of ​​almost 14,000 football fields – or five percent of the territory of the Spanish Atlantic island. By Sunday, more than 12,000 people had heeded authorities’ call to evacuate from affected areas in the north and northeast, according to official estimates. However, one doesn’t know for sure because the majority don’t go to emergency shelters specifically set up in gyms, but to friends and relatives. Meanwhile, normalcy prevailed in tourist areas.

Canary Islands Prime Minister Fernando Clavijo called it one of the worst fires to hit the island in 40 years. Around 300 firefighters, 24 firefighting planes and helicopters are deployed at a time. Difficult terrain to access, adverse weather conditions with severe drought, heat up to 34 degrees and strong winds and heavy smoke growth made the firefighting work difficult.

In the extreme northeast of Greece, several large forest and bush fires were partially brought under control on Sunday with the massive use of firefighting aircraft. “The situation is a little better,” a firefighter told state radio (ERA-1). “But the danger is not over. According to authorities, the flames have damaged several houses in the village of Loutros and destroyed farmland. Eight villages near the town of Alexandroupoli have been evacuated. “It was a very difficult night.” Mayor Giannis Zambokis said on state radio on Sunday.

In Canada the situation was even more difficult. In the province of British Columbia, two fires burned more than 41,000 hectares by Saturday evening. The area around Lake Suswap in the south of the province was affected. A CBC broadcast in the town of Scotch Creek showed destroyed homes and burned cars. There is no official information about the damage. Prime Minister David Ebi said evacuation orders were in place for about 35,000 people across the province. Tourist travel to the affected areas has been banned immediately to keep emergency services and shelters free for evacuees.

A fierce forest fire is raging about a hundred kilometers south of Lake Okanagan, popular with tourists. Officials on Sunday estimated the McDougall Creek Fire, which is threatening the city of West Kelowna, is 11,000 hectares in size. The size of the fire has increased more than tenfold since Friday. Thousands of people had to flee their homes and many buildings were destroyed.

Forest fires are common in many parts of Canada. However, it is currently experiencing the worst season in the history of the country. “It is pre-programmed by the drying of soil, forests and wetlands,” said Johann Georg Goldhammer, head of the Global Fire Monitoring Center at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the University of Freiburg. The climate was cold and humid. It changes mainly due to extreme weather conditions. Objectives such as prolonged drought are decisive. “They are still preparing to burn the forest.” Experts elsewhere aren’t surprised either: “One thing is clear: climate change is increasing extreme weather events,” repeats Ruben del Campo, spokesman for the Spanish weather service Amet.