With some 67,000 people under evacuation orders amid three destructive wildfires burning around Spokane, Washington, hundreds could be coming home to nothing. “All of our memories are gone,” said Anna Andreachi, a Spokane resident whose home was lost in the blaze. “My dad just died, and all of his stuff was still in there, too.” …
Two Greek firefighting helicopters collided in midair on Sunday as they were battling a wind-driven wildfire west of Athens, sending one aircraft crashing to the ground, footage showed. The aircraft were Bell helicopters operating over the Psatha area west of Athens, each with a two-person crew. Two of the crew members, one Greek and one Danish…
Fast-moving wildfires driven by strong winds and soaring temperatures have prompted the evacuation of thousands of people in eastern Washington state. Some 600 homes, businesses and other buildings have been destroyed since the Old Trails Fire started around noon on Saturday. In addition to the Old Trails Fire, there are two others — the Fairview Fire and…
Europe’s wildfire emergency eased across much of western Europe on Saturday, but its most dangerous front shifted to Greece, where gale-force winds drove flames through a seaside resort, forced hundreds to flee by sea and hampered firefighting aircraft. For Greece, the danger carried grim resonance: a 2018 wildfire at the seaside community of Mati, near Athens,…
As France battles what President Emmanuel Macron called the country’s worst wave of wildfires since World War II, there is also concern about the impact on one of the nation’s most prized industries. For generations, wine-making has been deeply woven into French culture and heritage. Now, winemakers and enthusiasts are worried about the economic impact…
Ege-Cap Ferret, France — French authorities gave the go-ahead Thursday for 84,000 evacuees forced out by a monster wildfire to go back to their homes in southwest France, the strongest sign yet that firefighters are turning a corner in their battle against the flames that have burned an area four times the size of Paris. The…
The death toll has grown to at least 34 people in southwestern Japan after a powerful earthquake on Tuesday, according to the prefectural government of Kumamoto, on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu, where the quake struck. The disaster destroyed homes, triggered an explosion at a mall and caused a factory chimney to collapse. Two days…
Two firefighters died Wednesday while battling a blaze on the Greek island of Crete, officials said, while crews in southern France worked to extinguish a massive, uncontained wildfire that had spread to roughly four times the size of Paris. Across Europe, firefighters confronted a dangerous combination of high temperatures, drought and powerful winds, compromising containment…
Kumamoto, Japan — Soldiers and emergency workers combed through a badly damaged shopping mall and collapsed houses looking for trapped survivors Wednesday after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 18 people in southwestern Japan. The magnitude 7.1 earthquake that hit a day earlier in the Kumamoto area on the southern main island of Kyushu, also…
As monsoon showers continued to hit parts of the country, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Sunday reported seven more casualties in Punjab and three in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, taking the countrywide death toll since June 26 to above 100. According to an NDMA daily situation report covering 24 hours up till 1pm, Punjab’s Gujrat…
