Wildfires across Europe have killed hundreds over the last decade

This image made from video provided by INFOCA shows firefighters battling a wildfire near Los Gallardos, Almeria, Spain, on Thursday, July 9, 2026. (INFOCA via AP)

MADRID — Wildfires raging across Europe have killed hundreds of people over the last decade, and climate change is set to push the death toll even higher in the coming years.

A wildfire in southern Spain killed at least 11 people overnight into Friday morning, making it one of the country’s deadliest on record, as soaring temperatures gripped much of the country.

In France, a rock fall Wednesday killed a 22-year-old volunteer firefighter who was helping battle a hard-to-reach forest fire in the mountains of the Alpine Savoie region of southeast France, as extreme high temperatures turned parched woodlands and scrub into tinderboxes.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Globally, 2025 was the third-hottest year on record, bringing several intense heat waves across Europe.

Scientists warn that climate change caused in part by the burning of fuels like gasoline, oil and coal is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making certain regions more vulnerable to wildfires.

Here’s a look at some of the last decade’s deadliest wildfires across Europe:

More than 100 died in Greece in 2018

Greece’s deadliest wildfire was in 2018, when a massive blaze swept through the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, trapping people in their homes and on roads as they tried to flee. More than 100 people died, including some who drowned trying to swim away from the flames.

In 2023, more than 20 people died in Greek wildfires, including 18 migrants who became trapped by the flames of what became Europe’s largest single recorded wildfire as they crossed through a forest in northeastern Greece.

More recently, a wildfire in northern Greece killed a 12-year-old boy and his father last week.

10 killed in Turkish wildfire last year

Last July, 10 firefighters and rescue workers were killed while trying to put out a wildfire that raged in a forested area of Eskisehir province in northwestern Turkey. The victims were forestry workers and members of the AKUT rescue organization.

Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said at the time that winds suddenly changed direction, causing the flames to shift and surround the forestry workers.

One of them was a 28-year-old man who had returned to work from his honeymoon just two days earlier. And one AKUT volunteer had spent a month rescuing the victims of a catastrophic earthquake that struck southern Turkey in February 2023.

Portugal wildfire left dozens dead in 2017

Portugal’s deadliest wildfire left 66 people dead in 2017 in Pedrogao Grande, 200 kilometres (120 miles) northeast of Lisbon. Most of the victims died on one road while trying to flee in cars.

Additional late-season wildfires brought 2017’s annual wildfire-related death toll in Portugal even higher, to more than 120 people, making it the deadliest year for such fatalities. The victims included a 1-month-old infant and the baby’s parents.

The Portuguese government went on to enact a range of measures to prevent and contain wildfires.

Reforms included public education campaigns on how fires start, establishing a rapid reaction force of firefighters and cutting several thousand kilometres (miles) of firebreaks, as well as making available a large number of firefighting assets.

Cyprus blames climate change for fatal fires

In Cyprus, many officials have pointed to climate change for the ferocity and speed of recent wildfires that have claimed at least six lives over the last five years.

In July 2021, the charred remains of four Egyptian laborers were discovered outside a fire-swept mountain village in what one official called the “most destructive” blaze the east Mediterranean island nation had ever seen.

Last July, rescue crews found the bodies of an elderly couple inside a gutted car on the shoulder of a mountain road. The speed with which the wildfire scorched roughly 50 square miles of forested hillsides prompted President Nikos Christodoulides to remark that “there’s never been anything like this before in Cyprus.”

Very strong winds, high temperatures and very arid conditions after three winters of minimal rainfall created a perfect storm at the wildfire’s peak.

In August last year, a study by World Weather Attribution said climate change that has driven scorching temperatures and dwindling rainfall made massive wildfires in Turkiye, Greece and Cyprus burn much more fiercely that summer.

The Associated Press