Hundreds of firefighters battled wildfires in Portugal and Greece on Sunday, with Spain and Italy sending reinforcements to Portugal to help battle a massive blaze that's burned for more than three days. Authorities on Sunday urged residents of parts of Thessaloniki, the second-largest Greek city, to remain indoors and shut their windows and doors due to toxic smoke from a burning recycling plant that was engulfed by a wildfire on the outskirts of the city, the AP reports.
In central Portugal's Vouzela area, more than 1,200 firefighters backed up by nearly 400 vehicles and 15 aircraft tried to put out a blaze that broke out on Thursday, according to the country's Civil Protection authority. The wildfire had burned across an area of 46 square miles by Sunday, information from the European Union's Copernicus satellite mapping agency showed. The EU's Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid said Spain sent 120 firefighters and 45 vehicles as reinforcements to Portugal on Friday, while three firefighting aircraft from Italy and Spain were also dispatched to help.
On the other side of southern Europe in Greece, a fast-moving blaze at a recycling plant broke out Saturday evening near the Oraiokastro suburb of Thessaloniki, triggering evacuation alerts for three suburbs and a facility housing 157 people with special needs. Strong winds fanned the flames, and around 160 firefighters worked through the night until water-dropping aircraft could take off at dawn, the fire department said. A 76-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of having started the blaze through negligence by generating sparks with his vehicle that set vegetation near the road alight, the fire department said. He was due to appear before a prosecutor Sunday.
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