Overview

• Coordinated ground crews, aerial support and sporadic rain have brought major blazes under control in Portugal, Spain and Turkey.
• The wildfire near Ponte da Barca in northern Portugal is almost extinguished, though Civil Protection chief Elisio Oliveira warns of unfavorable weather.
• Unexpected showers in Cuevas del Valle and containment in Las Hurdes capped fires that consumed over 70,000 hectares in Portugal and Spain since January.
• Turkey’s Forestry Ministry reports more than 2,000 wildfires and at least 14 deaths this year, but recent outbreaks in Thrace and Izmir were quickly doused.
• Authorities caution that Euboea, Crete, the Athens region and southern Italy remain at extreme risk if the incoming heat and dry winds ignite new fires.