newsroom, 20260815 -AI gen article:
Regions in Southern Europe and along the European Atlantic coast—specifically Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, and Greece—are currently bearing the brunt of ongoing, acute wildfires. These devastating blazes are being triggered by extreme heatwaves, prolonged drought, and parched undergrowth.
Just as in the Balkans, two factors are currently converging in North America: extreme, sustained summer heat and completely dried-out soil. When strong, unpredictable winds are added to the mix, ordinary brushfires rapidly escalate into uncontrollable “extreme fires” that are nearly impossible to contain, even for America’s well-equipped firefighting services.
Current hotspots in the USA
Washington State: What authorities describe as the region’s worst natural disaster is raging around the city of Spokane. Three massive fires have destroyed over 700 buildings, and more than 65,000 people have had to be evacuated.
California & Nevada: The massive “Bug Fire” has already consumed over 30,000 hectares of land along the border between the two states. Mass evacuations have taken place here as well.
Other states: Persistent drought and extreme heatwaves are creating a critical fire situation—and leading to numerous road closures—in Utah (particularly due to the “Iron Fire”), Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
The situation in neighboring Canada
The situation in North America is further exacerbated by catastrophic fires in Canada. A state of emergency has been declared in the province of British Columbia due to more than 4,600 recorded fires. Massive plumes of smoke are drifting thousands of kilometers, at times shrouding US East Coast metropolises like New York and Washington, D.C., in a dense, hazardous haze. The issue has even sparked political tensions between the countries regarding tariffs.
Fires in the Balkans? Severe heatwaves are causing intense forest and brush fires across the Balkans and neighboring regions of Southeast Europe, affecting areas such as the Croatian Adriatic coast and parts of Serbia and Albania.
Affected regions
Croatia: Flames fanned by strong winds are threatening coastal areas and Dalmatia (for instance, near Zadar and in the resort town of Lokva Rogoznica).
Serbia: Large sections of a nature reserve in the Banat Sands region (Banat Desert), east of Belgrade, have burned.
Albania: Massive forest fires and evacuations have occurred in mountainous areas and near the capital, Tirana.
