Fires in Serbia and Italy, the Var region enters a stabilization phase

Several active fires continue to ravage Serbia and Emilia-Romagna, while in France, the Var fire has stopped spreading after eighteen days of efforts. The heat wave hitting the Balkans, with temperatures reaching 40°C, is also exacerbating the Danube River crisis.

Serbian firefighters continued their efforts on Friday. In the northeast of the country, a fire has already consumed at least 700 hectares of the Deliblato Sands Special Nature Reserve, about 50 kilometers east of Belgrade. Helicopters and ground crews are deployed to try to contain the flames.

Near the city of Kraljevo, several separate fires forced residents of neighboring villages to evacuate. According to residents, more than 60 hectares of pine forest were destroyed in just a few days. "The damage is enormous. It's a young pine forest; these pines were planted in the 80s," one resident told the Associated Press. On Thursday, another major fire swept through the Ibar Valley in central Israel, where firefighters, assisted by water-bombing aircraft, had to contend with difficult terrain to protect surrounding villages.

Serbia is not alone in the situation. Several Balkan countries have experienced wildfires fueled by temperatures reaching 40°C. In Italy, a fire broke out Thursday afternoon in an isolated area of ​​Vedriano, in the Emilia-Romagna region, and firefighting operations continued on Friday. Rome has placed all its major cities on maximum heat alert.

The heatwave is also impacting waterways. Some sections of the Danube are experiencing historically low water levels, a situation described as unprecedented for this time of year. Hungary has been forced to shut down its only nuclear power plant, which relies on the river for cooling. Serbia, for its part, has reduced production at its hydroelectric plants, with the country's two main facilities now operating at only 20% and 30% of their capacity.

In France, the Var fire, which started on July 20, is no longer spreading. It has burned over 60 square kilometers, making it the largest blaze recorded in the region in several decades. Firefighters nevertheless remain highly mobilized. "This is a fire that can last a long time. In the morning, for example, it's about positioning ourselves, because the risk of fire increases with the wind and rising temperatures in the afternoon," explained Sergeant Anthony of the Marseille Naval Fire Battalion.

These events are taking place within a documented climate context: according to the European State of the Climate 2025 report, Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world, at a rate roughly twice the global average. The report warns that heat waves will become more frequent, more intense, and will extend over increasingly longer periods of the year.