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EU aid as fires spread
Violent wildfires in southern Europe, driven by wind and high temperatures, forced mass evacuations across France, Italy and Spain, with Spain declaring a national emergency in the Madrid region and in the province of Ávila.
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In France, President Emmanuel Macron said France requested activation of the European Union’s civil protection mechanism and that “We will soon be able to count on reinforcements from two Croatian Canadair aircraft, two Portuguese Air Tractor aircraft,” along with “two heavy Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.”
The DW report said the Spanish government decreed a national emergency on the night of Thursday for Madrid and Ávila and that the measure, announced by the Ministry of the Interior, would mobilize more resources, with the response placed in the hands of the Unidad Militar de Emergencias (UME).
In the Gironde area, the DW report said one large fire in Le Porge affected 4.800 hectáreas and triggered more than 20.000 evacuations in the Landes de Gascuña forest zone, while France’s Interior minister Laurent Nuñez said there had been more than 12.500 focos de incendios since the start of the year and 44.000 hectáreas already burned.
In Italy, the DW report said the interior minister Matteo Piantedosi announced dozens of wildfires in Sicily and that a hundred inhabitants and 22 patients from a clinic were evacuated after temperatures exceeded 40 °C in the previous days.
Evacuations, deaths, and quotes
As wildfires surged, evacuations expanded in France and Spain, with CBS News reporting that Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told AFP that “gradually, 40,000 people have either been evacuated or are currently being evacuated,” and that “A total of 80 homes have burnt, around 50 of which have been completely destroyed.”
CBS News also said three firefighters were killed as southern Europe endures more severe heat, and it described a resident near Bordeaux, Patrick Martineau, saying, “The gendarmes came and knocked on every door, the fire was about 500 meters (yards) away — we grabbed some things and left.”
In Spain, the NBC News report said the government declared a national emergency after wildfires forced the evacuation of some 10,000 people in the central region of Madrid, and it quoted Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez writing on X that “We are experiencing a dramatic situation, not just in several Spanish regions but also in neighboring countries.”
NBC News added that in France, authorities ordered more mass evacuations along the Atlantic coast and that Macron said France would rely on reinforcements including two Croatian Canadair aircraft, two Portuguese Air Tractor aircraft, and two heavy-lift Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
In Italy, Euronews reported that around 6,000 emergency responders were battling fires on Sicily and that a firefighter named Alessandro Marchi died while responding to a fire in San Cataldo earlier this week, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni saying she was “deeply saddened” to learn of his death.
What’s at risk next
Beyond the immediate flames, UN News said wildfires destroyed 2.2 million hectares of land in the WHO’s European Region in 2025, up from 1.4 million hectares in 2022, and it warned that “Wildfires destroy homes and livelihoods, force evacuations, and place enormous pressure on emergency services and health systems.”
“Macron announced overnight that France had requested the activation of an EU emergency mechanism as fire and medical services came under growing pressure”
UN News also said WHO warned that smoke can worsen heart and respiratory conditions, especially for older people, children, pregnant women and those with chronic diseases, and it noted that particulate matter contributes to conditions including lung diseases, liver diseases and eye infections, as well as cognitive impairment and memory loss.
In France, DW reported that Spain’s emergency decree aimed to mobilize more resources because the concurrence of fires and “condiciones meteorológicas especialmente adversas” increases “la complejidad de las labores de extinción y de protección civil,” while also placing the response with the UME.
In Spain, NBC News said the national emergency meant Spain’s interior ministry, which controls police and security forces, took charge of overseeing firefighting efforts by Spain’s regions as they struggled to battle multiple blazes being fanned by a heatwave.
In France and Spain, the sources also tied the next phase to continued coordination and public guidance, with UN News advising people to follow official advice, move away from active fires when safe, avoid unnecessary travel, and wear a well-fitting protective mask if they must go outdoors.
