French Firefighters Guarded a Still-burning Scar Four Times the Size of Paris, While Spain's Major Fires Stopped Advancing

The collision on Sunday laid bare the danger at the most volatile front of Europe's wildfire emergency, as strong winds drove flames deeper into the Greek capital's region and forced fresh evacuations. French firefighters guarded a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris, while Spain's major fires stopped advancing. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed "sorrow for the tragic accident" and extended condolences to the families of the firefighters killed.

"The loss of the Greek co-ordinator and the Danish pilot at the time they were attempting the major fire in Porto Gremeno fills us all with grief, he said in a statement. The aircraft were Bell helicopters operating over the Psatha area west of Athens, each with a two-person crew. McDermott Aviation, based on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, confirmed it owned both helicopters.

"Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families, friends and colleagues of those affected by this tragic incident, founder and president John McDermott said. "Both crews were undertaking the critical work of supporting firefighting operations to help protect communities. The company leases aircraft fitted out for firefighting, construction and emergency response in multiple countries.

Video posted online and reported in Greek media appeared to show the two helicopters closing to cross paths at low altitude before the main rotor of the lower helicopter struck the underside of the other. The lower one then crashed in flames; the second dumped its water load and flew away. has not yet verified the footage's authenticity.

Two crew members recovered alive were a Greek and a British national. The flames spread rapidly, threatening communities and an industrial district as violent gusts prevented firefighting aircraft from collecting water from the sea. The blaze carried grim resonance in a region where the 2018 Mati wildfire killed 104 people, Europe's deadliest blaze this century.

Farther west, containment brought no end to the emergency. France's largest wildfire remained held within its perimeter after forcing 224,000 people to flee in what may have been the country's largest civilian evacuation outside wartime. Hot spots still burned within a 420-square-kilometre scar, thousands remained unable to return home, and nearly 3,000 firefighters were deployed against the Gironde megafire and a second, still-uncontained blaze in Provence.

Together, fires in France and Spain have driven about a third of a million people from homes and vacation sites, emptied communities at the height of the European summer, and stretched emergency services across simultaneous disasters. The mass evacuations are the latest measure of a wildfire threat growing across Europe. The continent entered 2026 after its worst fire year on record, with more than 10,000 square kilometres burned in 2025. Over the past four decades, wildfires have been linked to nearly 800 deaths across much of Europe, according to the European Environment Agency.

Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent, having warmed more than twice the global average since the 1980s, per the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. Human-caused climate change made the extreme fire-weather conditions behind this year's French blazes at least twice as likely, scientists at World Weather Attribution found in a rapid analysis conducted while the fires were still burning. In Greece, nearly 500 firefighters and 23 aircraft were deployed, but gale-force winds drove flames through dry forest and crippled the response, preventing some aircraft from reaching the sea to collect water.

Authorities ordered the evacuation of Kandili, Agia Skepi and Toutouli as smoke rose over the mountains. Crews were particularly concerned about Porto Germeno, a seaside community on the Gulf of Corinth. The fire began Friday near Agios Vasileios before sweeping toward Porto Germeno and into the forested mountains west of Athens.

Firefighters evacuated 254 people by sea Friday and another 12 Saturday — often the last escape route when fire and smoke cut the few roads from coastal communities. Elsewhere in Greece, flames threatened homes on Kefalonia, forcing evacuations from inland communities as aircraft made water drops over the Ionian island. Firefighters battled another blaze near Nea Tenedos on the peninsula of Halkidiki.

Earlier this week, two firefighters died fighting a fire on Crete, while a third was killed on the Peloponnese. In south-western France, the Gironde megafire remained held within its perimeter on Sunday but continued to burn after scorching 420 square kilometres of forest in 10 days. "The fire is now fixed, which does not mean that the fire is extinguished, the Gironde prefecture said, using the French firefighting term for a blaze whose advance has been stopped. The region remained under France's highest red forest-fire alert, with dry conditions, soaring temperatures around Bordeaux and afternoon winds threatening to rekindle the flames.