Wildfires High temperatures and parched ground spark fires in nine Mediterranean countries

Transcript

00:00 Look, look, look.

00:01 In Rhodes, fires have triggered a state of emergency.

00:04 Now everyone must join the fight.

00:07 Why do you come on your own?

00:09 Yes, because I saw this.

00:10 Yeah.

00:11 Yes, I saw this.

00:12 And when it's small, after it can be big.

00:16 So better when it is small.

00:19 First, Alex tries to smother smaller flames

00:22 with his shovel.

00:23 When that fails, he uses bottled water in a desperate attempt

00:28 to stop the fire.

00:30 And this is a desperate situation.

00:33 This is what happened in his neighborhood

00:35 yesterday after a small fire spread.

00:39 Oh, no, it's gone more.

00:42 But it's already too late.

00:44 The flames are growing.

00:47 Then in the nick of time, reinforcements arrive.

00:51 For now, Alex's home is safe.

00:54 This is now a really tough battle

00:56 because pockets of fire keep breaking out across this island.

01:01 And it's stretching everyone to keep on top of them.

01:05 It's a 24/7 battle with thousands of volunteers

01:08 helping hundreds of firefighters protect

01:11 their businesses and homes.

01:13 These blazes have triggered more than 30,000 evacuations,

01:17 including thousands of tourists helped to flee the flames.

01:21 This has been a very difficult period.

01:24 It's difficult for those Greeks who've

01:25 lost homes and livelihoods.

01:28 But the outpouring of human sympathy and support

01:31 that Greeks on roads have shown has, I think,

01:34 been genuinely heartwarming.

01:38 And wildfires aren't just challenging Greece.

01:41 In Croatia, crews tackle blazes near Dubrovnik.

01:45 In Sicily, they've killed three people.

01:47 [SPEAKING CREOLE]

01:50 34 have died in Algeria.

01:53 As the world heats up, more lives and livelihoods

01:56 will be put at risk.

01:58 Siobhan Robbins, Sky News, Rhodes.