Three Greek firefighters die as extreme heat hampers the fight against southern Europe's wildfires
Three firefighters have died tackling blazes on Crete and in the south of the Greek mainland, the Greek fire department said, as the summer's fourth heatwave makes fires harder to quell and raises the risk of stabilised areas reigniting. In Spain, interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska called the country's largest recorded wildfire, west of Madrid, "technically stabilised", while prime minister Pedro Sanchez said the next twelve hours would be decisive; it was the first time in Spanish history that a fire had been raised to "operational level 3", putting the national government in charge of the response. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Romania and Greece are extending their missions and Poland joins from Saturday, after the EU sent France seven aircraft and four helicopters from countries as far away as Sweden and Turkey.