Video thumbnail for Spain: Wildfires Rage In Burgohondo.

Spain: Wildfires Rage In Burgohondo.

Jul 23, 2026

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Burgohondo, Spain - July 23, 2026 Wildfires swept across parts of Italy, France and Spain on Wednesday, killing three firefighters and forcing thousands to flee as scorching temperatures and strong winds fuelled the blazes. The fires come as southern Europe endures another spell of severe heat, with temperatures topping 40C in some areas. Scientists agree that climate change caused by humans burning fossil fuels is making extreme weather events such as fires and heatwaves more likely and more severe. In Sicily, around 6,000 firefighters, forest guards and civil protection officials battled dozens of fires that have raged for days across the Mediterranean island. Regional president Renato Schifani said about 50 fires were still burning despite the deployment of water-bombing aircraft. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said a firefighter died after falling ill while battling the flames. A spokesperson for the Italian Civil Protection Agency told AFP the situation in Sicily was serious and that the fires were being fuelled by very high temperatures and very dry soil. More than 160 fires have also been recorded in the neighbouring Calabria region which the head of local civil protection said were deliberate cases of arson by malicious individuals who had among other things tied rags soaked in flammable liquid to the tails of stray cats to spread fires. In France, two firefighters died on Tuesday tackling a blaze that broke out near Bordeaux airport. France's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez met the firefighters' families on Wednesday, as unions warned workers were facing exhaustion and a lack of resources. Two raging fires displaced thousands of people in the country's southwest and one ravaged around 2,000 hectares (nearly 5,000 acres) in the picturesque Arcachon Basin region near Bordeaux. We're dealing with a very dense stand of closely packed pines, firefighter Captain Wilfried Schneider told AFP, describing a fire of rare intensity. SHOTLIST Wildfire seen overnight in Burgohondo on 23 July. [Credit: X/YehYehy276]
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