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Wildfires sweep parts of Europe in early August

VIDEO SHOWS: WILDFIRES IN EUROPE IN AUGUST / SOUNDBITES FROM PEOPLE AFFECTED AND FIREFIGHTER

EDITOR'S NOTE: TIMELINE IS NOT IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, INSTEAD IT IS ORDERED BY REGIONS OF GREECE / FRANCE / NETHERLANDS

COMPLETE SCRIPT TO FOLLOW

SHOWS: ----- GREECE -----

Wildfires fanned by strong winds burned across multiple areas of Greece on August 1, including near Athens, with large-scale firefighting operations and emergency evacuations underway.

NEAR PORTO GERMENO, GREECE (AUGUST 1, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF FLAMES SPREADING THROUGH TREES NEXT TO ROAD

2. THICK CLOUD OF SMOKE ACROSS ROAD

3. TREES ON FIRE

Greek firefighters battled through the night and into the morning of August 2 to stop a huge wildfire in the regions of Attica and Boeotia, northwest of Athens, with residents forced to fight flames threatening their homes using buckets of water. The fire destroyed over 100 homes in the area of Porto Germeno, while a fresh blaze forced evacuations on the island and Ionian resort of Kefalonia.

NEAR AGIOS KONSTANTINOS VILLAGE, WESTERN ATTICA, GREECE (AUGUST 2, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

4. VARIOUS OF FLAMES NEAR HOUSE

5. RESIDENT WORKING TO EXTINGUISH FIRE WITH HOSE

6. FIREFIGHTING HELICOPTER DUMPING WATER ON FIRE

7. (MUTE) DRONE VIEW OF BURNED HOUSES AND FIELD

Volunteer firefighter, Dimitris Katerinitsas, said that while people were "making every effort to contribute", the fire had still "burned a huge area."

ZAHOULI VILLAGE, WESTERN ATTICA, GREECE (AUGUST 2, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

8. (MUTE) DRONE VIEW OF WILDFIRE RAGING SURROUNDING HOUSE, HUGE PLUMES OF WHITE SMOKE

9. (MUTE) DRONE VIEW OF WILDFIRE RAGING, HUGE PLUMES OF DARK GREY SMOKE

10. RESIDENT RUNNING THROUGH ORANGE SMOKE WITH GARDEN HOSE TRYING TO SAVE HIS HOME

11. VARIOUS OF RESIDENT TRYING TO HOSE DOWN FIRE RAGING AROUND HIS HOME

12. RESIDENT IN CAR ABANDONING EFFORTS AND LEAVING HOME

13. VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER BREAKING DOWN FENCE TO ENTER THE RESIDENT’S HOME

14. VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS TURNING ON THE MOTOR FOR THE HOSE

15. VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS HOSING DOWN FIRE

16. (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER, DIMITRIS KATERINITSAS, SAYING:

"We are putting out whatever we can, in cooperation with the fire department, going wherever they tell us to. What I see is that there are no aerial means. Very few planes. No helicopters. It has burned a huge area. The fire, as you know, has left Agios Vasileios in Boeotia. It has reached Megara, in the prefecture of Attica, and I imagine it will pass far back to Elefsina and Mandra. We, with whatever forces we have as citizens, as volunteers, as active people, are making every effort to contribute."

17. VARIOUS OF WILDFIRE RAGING

18. VARIOUS OF FIREFIGHTERS BATTLING WILDFIRE AS A WAREHOUSE BURNS, LARGE PLUMES OF SMOKE RISING

19. RESIDENT, GIORGOS MAVROIDIS, 50, STANDING WITH FIREFIGHTERS AND TALKING TO ANOTHER RESIDENT ON HIS BIKE

20. SOUNDBITE (Greek), RESIDENT, GIORGOS MAVROIDIS, 50, SAYING:

“It’s not a good situation. This is extremely sad. The wind is very strong. It keeps changing direction. It’s difficult to deal with. The firefighters who are trained and experienced can’t contain it, how can we?”

Still images showed a destroyed firefighting helicopter on the ground following a collision with another on August 2.

The two helicopters collided in the area of Psatha in the Attica region, Greece's fire service said in a statement.

Two people in one helicopter — a Greek and a Danish national — died, while the crew in the other, one person from Greece, one from Britain, survived, the fire service said. Investigations had started into what caused the collision, it added.

PSATHA, GREECE (AUGUST 2, 2026) (HELLENIC RED CROSS - Must on-screen courtesy Hellenic Red Cross) (MUTE)

21. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF CRASHED HELICOPTER WITH RED CROSS PERSONNEL AND CORDON

22. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF CRASHED HELICOPTER WITH RESCUE VEHICLE BESIDE IT

23. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF WING IN BUSHES

Satellite images from August 2 showed extensive smoke and swathes of burned ground caused by wildfires near Porto Germeno, Greece.

Gale-force winds that had fuelled a fire around Porto Germeno on the Gulf of Corinth 60 km (40 miles) northwest of Athens subsided on Sunday, but flames crossed a mountain to the south and reached the settlement of Veniza and a military firing range, igniting unexploded ordnance.

NEAR PORTO GERMENO, GREECE (JULY 27, 2026) (2026 PLANET LABS PBC - Must on-screen courtesy 2026 Planet Labs PBC) (MUTE)

24. SATELLITE IMAGE OF AREA BEFORE WILDFIRE

NEAR PORTO GERMENO, GREECE (AUGUST 2, 2026) (2026 PLANET LABS PBC - Must on-screen courtesy 2026 Planet Labs PBC) (MUTE)

25. SATELLITE IMAGE OF AREA AFTER WILDFIRE

NEAR PORTO GERMENO, GREECE (JULY 27, 2026) (2026 PLANET LABS PBC - Must on-screen courtesy 2026 Planet Labs PBC) (MUTE)

26. SATELLITE IMAGE OF AREA BEFORE WILDFIRE

NEAR PORTO GERMENO, GREECE (AUGUST 2, 2026) (2026 PLANET LABS PBC - Must on-screen courtesy 2026 Planet Labs PBC) (MUTE)

27. SATELLITE IMAGE OF AREA AFTER WILDFIRE

Horses were seen running from a wildfire northwest of Athens on August 3 as the blaze, driven by winds, persisted in the area.

The horses, near the settlement of Kandili, were seen fleeing as flames engulfed a field behind them.

According to local media that filmed the event, the horses were not harmed.

KANDILI, GREECE (AUGUST 3, 2026) (SKAI TV - No use Greece)

28. VARIOUS OF HORSES RUNNING IN A FIELD WITH FIRES RAGING IN THE BACKGROUND

Firefighters battled a wildfire threatening homes near the town of Megara, west of Athens, on August 3 as flames spread through dry vegetation fuelled by strong winds.

LOUBA, MEGARA, GREECE (AUGUST 3, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

29. WILDFIRE SURROUNDING HOME

30. EMERGENCY VEHICLE REVERSING

31. VARIOUS OF FIREFIGHTERS BATTLING BLAZE

32. FIREFIGHTERS USING WATER HOSES NEXT TO HOUSE

A wildfire in Western Attica that had spread with furious speed left charred homes and land in its wake on August 3.

Government officials said strong and erratic winds over the past few days had prevented water bombers drawing up seawater, leaving ground forces battling the blazes in this area northwest of Athens on their own.

PORTO GERMENO, GREECE (AUGUST 3, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all)

33. (MUTE) VARIOUS DRONE VIEWS OF BURNED HOMES, FIELDS, YARDS, AND FOREST

34. (MUTE) DRONE VIEW OF SCORCHED FOREST NEXT TO SEA

35. RESIDENT VIVI GIALIA, 45, LOOKING AT DAMAGE AT HER SUMMER HOME WHERE HER PARENTS LIVED

36. (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) RESIDENT, VIVI GIALIA, 45, SAYING:

“It is as if my heart has been torn out, because it was a beautiful place, we spent our summers here. We have spent happy times here, and there is nothing anymore.”

37. GIALIA WALKING INTO HER RUINED HOME

----- FRANCE -----

Residents in the southeastern Var region began returning to their homes on August 2, most finding their property intact but surrounded by charred landscapes as wildfires in the area remained active, officials said.

Authorities confirmed the fire, which has scorched about 1,800 hectares and destroyed about 40 houses, did not spread overnight and evacuation measures have been largely lifted.

MONTFORT-SUR-ARGENS, FRANCE (AUGUST 2, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

38. VARIOUS OF FIREFIGHTER WATERING CHARRED AREA TO PREVENT NEW FLARE-UPS

39. FIRE TRUCK IN FIELD

40. VARIOUS OF CHARRED VEGETATION

Residents evacuated from the southwestern French town of Le Porge due to a massive wildfire were allowed to return to their homes on August 3.

Local resident Marius Sabou and his family found blackened debris on the site where their home used to be. His wife Anna Maria Sabou, looked through the rubble, hoping to find personal belongings with their two children.

LE PORGE, FRANCE (AUGUST 3, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

41. (MUTE) VARIOUS DRONE VIEWS OF DAMAGED HOMES AND BURNT FIELD AFTER WILDFIRE

42. LOCAL RESIDENTS, MARIUS SABOU AND ANNA MARIA SABOU, AND CHILDREN STANDING BY RUBBLE OF DESTROYED HOUSE

43. DESTROYED POOL

44. VARIOUS OF RESIDENT, ANNA MARIA SABOU, LOOKING THROUGH RUBBLE

45. DEBRIS IN DESTROYED HOUSE

46. RENSIDENT, ANNA MARIA SABOU, AND CHILDREN STANDING ON RUBBLE

47. BURNT HOUSE

48. (SOUNDBITE) (French) LOCAL RESIDENT, MARIUS SABOU, SAYING:

"I thought we were leaving just because there was smoke, there was smoke everywhere. I didn't think that when we return, we would see this."

49. MARIUS SABOU WALKING NEAR RUBBLE

----- NETHERLANDS -----

Firefighters battled a blaze through the night into August 4 after a large wildfire broke out in the Dutch province of Limburg on August 3, forcing evacuations and halting train services as flames spread rapidly through the treetops.

LIMBURG PROVINCE, NETHERLANDS (AUGUST 4, 2026) (SQ Vision - No Use Netherlands, Must Courtesy 'SQ Vision')

50. VARIOUS OF WILDFIRE BURNING FOREST