Wildfires Ravage Southeastern Europe and the Balkans

Firefighters battled on Monday to put out wildfires in three separate provinces of Turkey, in Greece and near a tourist resort in Albania, stoked by strong winds after days of searing heat across the Mediterranean region.

Smoke billowed over the mountainous Black Sea province of Karabuk, 200 kilometres north of the capital, Ankara, as a wildfire that raged for a sixth day forced the evacuation of more than a dozen villages and burned swaths of forests.

In the northwestern province of Bursa, three firefighters were killed on Sunday when their vehicle crashed, Turkey’s Agriculture and Forestry Ministry said on Monday. Crews fought two separate fires there on Monday, following the evacuation of more than 3,600 people from settlements in the southern provinces of Mersin and Antalya.

Turkey has suffered dozens of wildfires in recent weeks as temperatures have soared, and 10 firefighters were killed last week battling a blaze in the central Eskisehir province.

Hot and dry summers are common in the Mediterranean region, but more intense heat waves have contributed to destructive wildfires in recent years amid fast-rising temperatures across the globe.