Wildfires Rage Across Southern Europe, Threatening Tour de France Stage

Firefighters across southern Europe battled several wildfires on Sunday, with authorities in southwestern France warning that one blaze could force a partial cancellation of the Tour de France.

Blazes were also reported in Portugal, Greece, Spain and the Balkans, just as the summer tourism season moves into high gear.

European policymakers have warned of a very extreme danger from wildfires this year, particularly during July and August.

Wildfire may reroute Tour de France

French authorities said they would decide by the end of Sunday whether to cancel the third stage of the Tour de France, after a forest fire raged about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the route.

The fire, at Trevillach in the Pyrenees-Orientales department, broke out on Saturday, leaving two people — a firefighter and a resident — in a life-threatening condition in the hospital.

Some 750 firefighters, 200 vehicles and nine water-bombing helicopters and other aircraft have ‌been deployed to contain the fire, which officials say has a ​frontline stretching 18 kilometers.

Cyclists are due to cross the finish line in Les Angles in the Pyrenees on Monday, and race officials hope the route can be adapted if required.

Around 300 firefighters battled another fire in a mountainous district of France's southeastern Drome department.

Portugal calls in reinforcements from Spain, Italy

Meanwhile, a wildfire burning since Thursday in central Portugal's Vouzela area has scorched an area of 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres), according to the country's Civil Protection authority.

More than 1,200 firefighters have been working to put out the blaze, along with nearly 400 vehicles and 15 aircraft.

By Sunday afternoon, the fire had been somewhat contained, with officials cited in local media as saying that some hot spots remained.

Spain sent reinforcement personnel and vehicles to Portugal on Friday, along with two water bombers. Italy also sent two firefighting aircraft.

Thousands evacuated as Spain fire rages

In Spain's northeastern Girona region, a wildfire burning since Friday ruined nearly 2,200 hectares (5,400 acres) of land, the EFE news agency reported.

A local fire official said it may not be possible to bring the blaze under control on Sunday.

Almost 50,000 people living nearby were ordered to remain indoors or were evacuated, local media reported.

A man was detained on suspicion of accidentally starting the fire while using an angle grinder for roadside work.

Greece fires felt near Athens, Thessaloniki

In Greece, a major wildfire broke out on Sunday afternoon west of the capital, Athens.

The blaze was reported to be burning through pine forest in the Mandra area.

Officials said more than 150 firefighters and 22 aircraft were battling the fire, along with specialist teams and volunteers.

In parts of Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city, residents were ordered to stay home with their windows and doors closed after a recycling plant was engulfed by a wildfire and produced toxic smoke.

Police arrested a 76-year-old man on suspicion of having started the blaze by generating sparks with his vehicle that set vegetation alight, the fire department said.

Major fires were also reported on the Croatian island of Hvar and at Tale in Albania.

EU steps up cross-border support

Wildfires have intensified across southern Europe in recent years, with longer fire seasons and larger areas burned.

The latest blazes come after much of Europe was hit by an early summer heatwave.

The European Union has stepped up efforts to prepare for the wildfire season, with the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, making its largest-ever deployment of emergency crews from 14 countries.

The crews are pre-positioned in high-risk areas of Cyprus, Greece, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, alongside water bombers.

Edited by: Wesley Dockery