Destructive Fires Char Western Europe

Wildfires that tore through Spain and France this July rank among the most destructive either country has faced in decades. NASA News reports the Ávila fire in central Spain burned roughly seventy-seven thousand hectares after merging with neighboring blazes, making it the largest on record there, while fires in southwestern France charred more than ninety thousand hectares this season, the most in decades. Researchers with the State of Wildfires Project trace the conditions back to a wet winter that fueled vegetation growth, followed by heat waves and drought that dried it out, with winds up to sixty-five kilometers per hour driving rapid spread. Thousands of firefighters gained the upper hand by late July and evacuation orders are being lifted, though forecasters warn the fire risk remains high as hot, dry conditions persist.

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