Wildfires burn coastal homes, forests in Greece as Europe's heatwave spreads east

A wildfire that started in mountainous forests on Lesbos in the Aegean Sea near Turkey on Saturday, burning properties at the beach resort of Vatera, was still raging, forcing the evacuation of two more villages - Vrisa and Stavros.

In mainland Greece a new wildfire threatened homes at Krestena in the western Peloponnese, forcing the evacuation of Gryllos village.

"The flames have encircled Krestena, there are reports of damaged homes, we need help," Anastasios Karnaros, a town council member, told Greek broadcaster Open TV.

Temperatures hit 40 degrees Celsius in parts of Greece on Sunday as a heatwave that has hit other parts of Europe spread east and was expected to last for most of the coming week, according to meteorologists.

In the north of the country, a wildfire continued to ravage a pristine forest near Dadia, a natural habitat for black vultures, burning for a fourth day as authorities struggled to contain its destruction.

"We are dealing with difficult terrain and access with winds changing direction," Civil Protection Minister Christos Stylianidis, coordinating efforts from the air and on the ground, told state TV ERT.

Vatera, an 8km long sandy beach in the southern part of Lesbos, is a popular tourist spot. Lesbos was at the forefront of Europe's refugee crisis six years ago. The wildfire there burned homes and injured one firefighter.

Greece is suffering a second consecutive summer of wildfires this year.

A wildfire in mountains near Athens last week damaged homes and forced hundreds of people to flee, with authorities calling this summer one of the toughest in the Mediterranean.

Last year, wildfires ravaged about 300,000 acres of forest and bushland across Greece during the country's worst heatwave in 30 years.

Crews protect homes as California fire burns near Yosemite

A destructive wildfire near Yosemite National Park burned out of control through tinder-dry forest on Sunday and had grown into one of California’s biggest blazes of the year, forcing thousands of residents to flee remote mountain communities.

Some 2,000 firefighters battled the Oak Fire, along with aircraft and bulldozers, facing tough conditions that includes steep terrain, sweltering temperatures and low humidity, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

“It’s hot out there again today,” Cal Fire spokesperson Natasha Fouts said Sunday. “And the fuel moisture levels are critically low.”

Crews on the ground protected homes as air tankers dropped retardant on 50-foot (15-meter) flames racing along ridgetops east of the tiny community of Jerseydale.

Light winds blew embers ahead into tree branches “and because it’s so dry, it’s easy for the spot fires to get established and that’s what fuels the growth,” Fouts said.

The fire erupted Friday southwest of the park near the town of Midpines in Mariposa County. Officials described “explosive fire behavior” on Saturday as flames made runs through bone-dry vegetation caused by the worst drought in decades.

By Sunday the blaze had consumed more than 22 square miles (56 square km) of forest land, with no containment, Cal Fire said. The cause was under investigation.

Evacuations were in place for over 6,000 people living across a several-mile span of the sparsely populated area in the Sierra Nevada foothills, though a handful of residents defied the orders and stayed behind, said Adrienne Freeman with the U.S. Forest Service.

“We urge people to evacuate when told,” she said. “This fire is moving very fast.”

Lynda Reynolds-Brown and her husband Aubrey awaited news about the fate of their home from an evacuation center at an elementary school. They fled as ash rained down and the fire descended a hill towards their property.

“It just seemed like it was above our house and coming our way really quickly,” Reynolds-Brown told KCRA-TV.

Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency for Mariposa County due to the fire’s effects.

Flames destroyed at least 10 residential and commercial structures and damaged five others, Cal Fire said. Assessment teams were moving through mountain towns to check for additional damage, Fouts said.

Numerous roads were closed, including a stretch of State Route 140 that’s one of the main routes into Yosemite.

California has experienced increasingly larger and deadlier wildfires in recent years as climate change has made the West much warmer and drier over the past 30 years. Scientists have said weather will continue to be more extreme and wildfires more frequent, destructive and unpredictable.

Pacific Gas & Electric said on its website that more than 3,100 homes and businesses in the area had lost power as of Sunday and there was no indication when it would be restored. “PG&E is unable to access the affected equipment,” the utility said as flames roared Friday.

The Oak Fire was sparked as firefighters made progress against an earlier blaze, the Washburn Fire, that burned to the edge of a grove of giant sequoias in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park. The 7.5-square-mile (19-square-km) fire was nearly 80% contained after burning for two weeks and moving into the the Sierra National Forest.