Multiple wildfires in Canada’s northern territories have forced thousands to evacuate their homes, especially in Yellowknife. As the flames approached, the 20 000 residents of the city have been instructed to vacate by Friday, August 18, 2023.
A rapidly spreading wildfire, which ignited on Tuesday night, August 15, 2023, in a Tenerife national park, has since spread across 300 ha (741 acres), leading to the evacuation of five villages and sealing off the forest near Mount Teide volcano.
Destructive wildfires in Maui, Hawaii have claimed at least 80 lives in just a couple of days, as of late Friday (LT), August 11, 2023. This makes them the deadliest natural disaster in Hawaii since it joined the United States in 1959.
At least 36 people lost their lives to wildfires that engulfed Maui over the past couple of days. Fueled by the strong winds of distant Hurricane Dora, the fires have razed hundreds of structures in the historic town of Lahaina. A mass evacuation of people north of the town is in progress.
Destructive forest fires have been burning along Algeria’s Mediterranean coast over the past couple of days, leading to at least 34 fatalities. The fires, which were fueled by strong winds and intense heatwave, spread across multiple provinces and even extended to neighboring Tunisia.
Over the last 24 hours, 62 forest fires have erupted across Greece, resulting in further evacuations in several regions. The Greek Civil Protection has reported that the main fire outbreaks are located in West Attica, Laconia in the southern Peloponnese, and on the island of Rhodes.
The annual emissions from wildfires in Canada as of June 26, 2023, have reached record levels, marking the largest amount the country has seen since satellite monitoring began in 2003.
Europe has experienced significant smoke transport from the intense wildfires that have been raging in Canada since May. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) has been closely monitoring the situation, tracking active fire locations, fire radiative power, emissions, and forecasting the impacts of the resulting smoke on the atmosphere.
The Iberian Peninsula is experiencing one of the most notable wildfire smoke events in its modern history with Aerosol Index (AI) values on June 27, 2023, exceeding 4 in some locations (AOD values >1).
A rapidly-spreading forest fire in the Abai region of northeastern Kazakhstan has resulted in the deaths of 14 emergency workers and prompted evacuations. The blaze, which began on June 8 in the Batpayev forestry, has so far consumed approximately 60 000 ha (148 260 acres) of land.
