Wildfires | DD News

August 4, 2026 4:32 PM

Wildfires ease in Greece as people return to gutted homes

Wildfires were easing in Greece on Tuesday though hundreds of firefighters were on alert for persistent flare-ups northwest of Athens, where rugged hills and canyons hampered efforts to fully contain a blaze that gutted homes and scorched forests, farmland and olive groves. Local crews supported by water-bombing aircraft and reinforcements from Romania and France were operating on three fronts west of Athens in the Gulf of Corinth, dousing flames raging since Friday. Strong dry winds blowing f...

August 4, 2026 9:02 AM

Wildfires near Spokane destroy more than 700 buildings, force 64,000 to flee

Wildfires raging on the outskirts of Spokane, Washington, for a third day have destroyed at least 700 buildings and forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in and around the state's second-most populous city, officials said on Monday. The cluster of three blazes ranks as the top firefighting priority in the U.S. as a whole, including the drought-parched Pacific Northwest, where dozens of major wildfires have been burning for weeks, degrading air quality across a wide region. The...

July 27, 2026 9:46 AM

Wildfires threaten Bordeaux as France and Spain battle blazes

Wildfires advanced towards the outskirts of the historic French city of Bordeaux, at the heart of the country's winelands, on Sunday as France and Spain battled blazes that have already forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people. About 220,000 people have been evacuated in France, while in Spain more than 75,000 people have been evacuated and a further 30,000 ordered to shelter in place, authorities said. In France, fires have ravaged the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coas...

July 24, 2026 3:03 PM

Spain declares emergency as wildfires force thousands of evacuations

Spain declared a national emergency over wildfires for the first time on Friday and France asked for help from the European Union to tackle a blaze on the Atlantic coast as searing heat fuelled fires across Europe and forced tens of thousands of evacuations. French authorities ordered the total evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula, a tourism hotspot, due to a large wildfire. Some 40,000 people were evacuated from the area, many brought to safety by boat, officials said. In Spain, more than 1...

July 10, 2026 5:21 PM

Eleven killed, 19 missing in one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires Friday

At least 11 people died attempting to flee a wildfire in southern Spain, and 19 were missing, with firefighters on Friday still battling to bring one of the country's deadliest blazes on record under control. One Spaniard was among the victims and the rest appeared to be foreign nationals who ignored instructions to shelter in place, trying instead to flee by car as flames spread rapidly through a wooded area around the town of Los Gallardos in Almeria province, said Antonio Sanz, head of em...

May 14, 2026 4:09 PM

Climate Change & Wildfires: Environmental, human and economic costs

The recent wildfire in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris region, which destroyed vast stretches of forest amid soaring temperatures and dry winds, has once again highlighted the alarming impacts of climate change across the Indian subcontinent. Scientists warn that 2026 is already witnessing unprecedented wildfire activity worldwide, with massive fires raging across Asia, Africa, Australia and South America as extreme heat and prolonged drought continue to fuel devastating blazes. In April this year Nilgi...

January 13, 2026 2:47 PM

Wildfires, storms fuel 2025 insured losses of $108 billion, Munich Re says

Global insured losses from natural disasters fell to $108 billion last year, Munich Re said in a report on Tuesday. That compared with an inflation-adjusted $147 billion in 2024, the German reinsurer said, as the U.S. mainland avoided hurricanes for the first time in 10 years. Munich Re's total estimate for last year sightly exceeds Swiss Re's of $107 billion, which it published in December. Damage from floods, wildfires and severe storms was the main contributor to insured losses, accounting...

July 15, 2025 9:44 AM

Heatwaves, droughts and wildfires costing Europe billions each year

Extreme heat and worsening drought situations are gripping large parts of Europe, sparking wildfires, triggering red alerts and intensifying global calls for effective climate actions. Driven by climate change, scientists warn, these conditions signal a new era of drought, threatening food security, energy security, ecosystems and economies. The worrying part is that heatwaves and wildfires are constantly growing deadlier and costlier. If the European Environment Agency (EEA) is to be believed,...

March 25, 2025 9:14 PM

South Korea wildfires spread forcing evacuation of four local prisons, homes

Wildfires spread across South Korea's southeastern region on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of thousands of inmates from local prisons and causing residents to flee their homes. Acting President Han Duck-soo vowed to deploy firefighting helicopters and ground personnel to battle the fires. The city of Andong, with a population of 150,000 people, issued an alert to its residents to evacuate to safe areas, according to a city official and a public text alert. The city is home to the 14th- to 15...

An aerial view of fire trucks, utility, and other vehicles parked along Pacific Coast Highway near homes destroyed in the Palisades Fire as wildfires cause damage and loss through the LA region on January 13, 2025 in Pacific Palisades, California. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

January 14, 2025 10:05 AM

Fire-ravaged Los Angeles in path of dangerous winds

Los Angeles firefighters braced for high winds overnight into Tuesday, gusts that could fuel two monstrous wildfires that have already leveled entire neighborhoods, killed at least two dozen people, and burned an area the size of Washington, D.C. Dry, dangerous Santa Ana wind gusts reached 30 to 50 mph (48 to 80 kph) later on Monday, but the red flag warning was not due to start until 10 p.m. PST (0600 GMT) with the peak winds that could hit 75 mph (120 kph) starting around 4 a.m. Tuesday (120...