In Albania, firefighters battled flames in villages near Tirana on Sunday, with ongoing efforts to combat new fires at eight locations across the country. Hundreds of firefighters and military personnel, supported by a helicopter, have been deployed to control blazes in Librazhd and Gramsh in the central-eastern region, the outskirts of Tirana, and the southern regions of Hamara and Konispol, as well as northern Bulqiza. Hundreds of hectares of forests have been reduced to ashes.
Authorities have arrested at least five individuals for arson and urged hunters to exercise caution as the nation contends with a severe heatwave exacerbating the wildfire threat
Similarly, Croatia is battling massive wildfires that have consumed thousands of hectares of pine forest, maquis, and vegetation. Firefighters continue to monitor fire sites in Tučepi near Makarska and in Vrsine near Trogir, which ignited five days ago and have so far burned a total of 1,250 hectares. The County Firefighting Operations Center reports a reduction in personnel as the intensity of the fires diminishes.
The Tučepi fire was allegedly sparked by the negligence of a local beekeeper who failed to fully extinguish embers from a smoker, while the Vrsine blaze was caused by spontaneously combusting waste
High temperatures, winds, and weeks of drought have accelerated the spread of wildfires in Albania and other Balkan countries, underlining the urgent need for vigilance and preparedness in the face of escalating climate challenges.
