Journal De Bruxelles - France, Spain assess scorched terrain as new wildfires threaten other regions

The unusual intensity of some of the fires across Europe underlines the increasing risk the continent faces as climate change parches vegetation and makes the emergencies more extreme, scientists say.

- Crete winds fan flames -

Greek firefighters continued to battle a wildfire ravaging parts of the tourist island of Crete on Friday, although conditions had improved around the town of Rethymno, authorities said.

But the blaze "has not yet been contained, there are still many hotspots", a fire department spokesperson told AFP, after some 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres) had been scorched on Wednesday and Thursday.

Fires were also burning on the islands of Paros, Kalymnos and Andros in Aegean sea but "the situation is better", according to the fire service.

Many parts of the country, including the Athens region and parts of the Peloponnese, were still listed at a "very high" wildfire risk on Friday -- the second-highest level on Greece's five-point scale.

- Ukraine sends help -

Ukraine said it had dispatched a team of 70 rescuers and 15 specialised vehicles to help battle blazes in France that have sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing.

The prefect of Gironde, the French region worst hit by the fires, said Friday morning that while the massive fire was "contained within its perimeter" there remained "persistent active sectors".

- French return home -

A massive fire that ravaged 42,000 hectares near Bordeaux in southwestern France was stabilised thanks to "favourable" overnight conditions, the local prefecture said early Friday.

With the spread finally being contained, more than half of the 224,000 people evacuated have been able to return to their homes in 12 municipalities from the northwest to the south of Bordeaux.

"Firefighters will carry out combined operations of clearing forest undergrowth and treating the edges of the fire in the dune area," a prefecture official said.

The improvements followed what Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas described as an "optimistic day" Thursday with "the feeling that we are beginning to return to normal life".

At least 200 homes were destroyed and two firemen killed in the fires.

- An 'intense' night in Portugal -

Northern Portugal was battling fires on Friday, with hundreds of firefighters confronting a blaze that has been raging since Tuesday, according to the civil protection authorities.

"We had an intense night of work," the regional civil protection commander, Albano Teixeira, told television channel CNN Portugal.

Nearly 800 firemen have been deployed to the major fire in Valpacos which has left at least five people lightly injured.

Burning since Tuesday, it has consumed more than 6,00 hectares, said the service.

- More fires ignite in Turkey -

Hundreds of Turkish firefighters battled on Thursday to contain wind-fuelled wildfires spreading near key tourist regions on the country's Mediterranean coast.

Authorities in the western province of Balikesir, where firefighters continue to tackle blazes around three towns, reported five people injured.

Three villages near Ayvalik, which is on the Aegean Sea and in front of the Greek island of Lesbos, had been evacuated alongside 720 cattle, they added.

At least 169 fires had sparked across the country since Wednesday, of which 163 were under control, the country's agriculture minister said.

- Spain faces more heat -

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez lifted a state of emergency over a wildfire west of Madrid on Thursday, after the prefect's office said there were no longer any "active fronts".

More than 60,000 people had been evacuated during the worst of the fire, but most had been allowed to return home.

Spain is experiencing a new heatwave this week, which officials warned could reignite fires in the Madrid region.

burs-giv/rmb

R.Michel--JdB