Europe’s wildfire crisis eases in west as danger shifts east to Greece

For Greece, the danger carried grim resonance: a 2018 wildfire at the seaside community of Mati, near Athens, killed 104 people, making it Europe’s deadliest wildfire this century. Rising temperatures and prolonged drought leave vegetation drier and more combustible, allowing fires to spread faster and burn more intensely. “The very strong to gale-force winds continue to create exceptionally difficult conditions,” climate crisis and civil protection minister Evangelos Tournas said. The Gironde fire has burned 162 square miles of pine forest west of Bordeaux, an area four times the size of Paris. Flames burn through a forest in Greece (Michael Varaklas/AP) (Michael Varaklas/AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)“Today, the fire is still not fixed.