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54 patients treated by paramedics with 19 hospitalised after West Midlands wildfires
We just got an update from the West Midlands ambulance service.
A total of 54 patients have been treated by paramedics – including 19 who were taken to hospital – as a result of wildfires in the region, PA reported.
Key events
West Midlands fire was like ‘an inferno’, witnesses say
We are getting some witness accounts of the fire in West Midlands, via PA news agency.
Andrew Reynolds, 42, told the Press Association:
“My mum’s lost everything. Absolutely everything. There’s nothing saveable.”
He described the scene on Thursday night as an “inferno” which destroyed the house his mother has lived in for 34 years.
Mr Reynolds said all his grandmother’s possessions were in the loft and will have been destroyed in the fire.
He said:
“(It was) stuff that she treasured that was going to be left to me.
No monetary value in it whatsoever, just the fact it was my nan’s and my nan was my whole world.
It’s all gone, including 100 years’ worth of photos from the family.”
He said the fire quickly “ripped through” the houses.
Tony Aldhouse, 62, who also lives on the street, said his garden looks like a “bomb had hit it”.
The fire service said there was a full evacuation of around 50 residents at the blaze at Gorleston Road, where a number of terraced houses have been damaged by the fire.
Meanwhile, French firefighters are still tackling a blaze in the Landes region, with more than 500 people evacuated as a precaution.
French media are reporting that the emergency response saw the first deployment of a new water-bombing helicopter Chinook CH-47D, on loan from Australia, which is capable of carrying twice as much water as a Canadair aircraft.
The machine can drop 11,300 litres of water, and refill within 90 seconds, it said, helping in effective response to any new wildfires.
Major fire in Croatian seaside town of Omiš leaves at least 36 injured – in pictures
We are getting some more pictures showing the dramatic scenes last night during a major wildfire near Omiš in Croatia (10:19, 11:25, 11:47).
And here is the scene this afternoon:
54 patients treated by paramedics with 19 hospitalised after West Midlands wildfires
We just got an update from the West Midlands ambulance service.
A total of 54 patients have been treated by paramedics – including 19 who were taken to hospital – as a result of wildfires in the region, PA reported.
Sicily’s Catania airport remains closed until Saturday due to Mount Etna’s volcanic activity
Meanwhile, flights at Catania airport in Sicily will remain suspended until early Saturday because of ash from Mount Etna’s ongoing volcanic activity, which has forced hundreds of flights to be cancelled or rerouted over the past week, Reuters reported.
All arrivals at the island hub, Italy’s fifth-busiest airport by passenger traffic, will be suspended through 2am local time on 15 August, airport operator SAC said in a statement.
The current disruption is the most severe to affect Catania airport in at least two decades, according to SAC sources quoted by Italian news agency ANSA.
Some 630 flights were diverted to other airports, and more than a third of the 1,974 flights scheduled at Catania were cancelled.
England has seen only 6% of long-term average rain in August after driest July on record
England has received just 4mm of rain so far in August, or 6% of the long-term average for the month, the Environment Agency said on Friday, as reported by PA.
It follows the driest July on record for the country, when only 7mm of rain was measured, or 10% of the average.
‘One of worst fires in recent years,’ Croatian PM says, as seven people reported in life-threatening condition
Speaking in Omiš, Croatian PM Plenković said it was “one of the worst fires in recent years,” as he stressed the “what is most important is that there are no confirmed fatalities so far.”
He thanked the local firefighters for their attempts to tackle the blaze, and pledged financial support to the communities affected by the fire.
But local hospitals said that seven of the 14 hospitalised people were in life-threatening condition, Croatian public broadcaster HRT reported, with authorities working on transferring some of them to the capital, Zagreb, to receive specialist care.
300 Czechs among 1,000 evacuated in Croatian fire as PM, president rush to site
We are getting a bit more detail about the terrifying fire in the Croatian seaside town of Omiš.
Some 300 Czech tourists are among the 1,000 evacuees, Czech media reported, with a Czech police officer sent to coordinate the emergency response.
Croatian prime minister Andrej Plenković is in the town holding a coordination meeting with all emergency services this morning. Croatian president Zoran Milanović is also expected later today.
“All those injured in last night’s fire are being provided with the necessary medical care,” Plenković said in an earlier update on X.
Campaigners, scientists question why PM Burnham is reluctant to speak about the climate crisis
Harriet Richards
Assistant environment editor
On Thursday UK foreign secretary Ed Miliband posted a stark message on Instagram warning that climate breakdown is a national security threat to British people.
He promised to work with countries around the world to tackle global heating, adding:
“I feel this so deeply. We owe it to future generations to act. Our planet is sending us a warning signal and we are going to listen.”
Meanwhile people are asking why prime minister Andy Burnham is so reluctant to talk about the climate crisis, the effects of which are raging around the country.
Sandra Laville, our environment correspondent, writes today:
“From the first day Andy Burnham came into office, climate scientists, campaigners and some of the ordinary people surviving through this summer of extreme heat began to wonder when he would start to talk about the climate crisis.
Up until this week, many held back from criticism. After all, he had only been in power for a couple weeks; it felt far too early to start to judge and call him out on it.
But as we watched the footage of terrified horses galloping over cindering heathland in the New Forest while yet another wildfire took hold, it no longer felt too soon to wonder.
Now people are asking aloud: why is Burnham ignoring what is in front of his face – the devastating impact of climate breakdown on the country and its citizens?”
150 million people in Europe to experience temperatures of 35C and above today
While the temperatures might be slightly dropping in the UK today, it’s not really the case elsewhere as still some 150 million people in Europe are going to experience temperatures of 35C or above today, an AFP analysis showed.
Temperatures are set to surpass 30C for around three out of five European residents (excluding Turkey), amounting to around 350 million people, AFP said.
That’s a lot.
Seven people with life-threatening injuries after Croatia fire, as number of injured goes up to 36
Menawhile, the number of people injured in the Croatian fire has gone up to 36, with about 1,000 people also evacuated (9:36).
14 people were hospitalised, and seven have life-threatening injuries, Reuters said.
“Everything flared up in a second,” Goran Lović, the owner of a cafe near where the fire broke out in Lokva Rogoznica, told the Jutarnji List newspaper. “It just happened all of a sudden, there was an open flame in the part where there is a forest and no houses.”
Most of the affected people are believed to be tourists, with many people missing documents and documentations, the local Red Cross said.
““I haven’t experienced anything like this in 15 years,” Tomislav Gojo of the Split Red Cross told Jutarnij List.
1,800 people evacuated overnight as German wildfire spreads
Around 1,800 people had to leave their homes in western Germany overnight as a wildfire spread nearby, officials said Friday, with helicopters and army equipment deployed to help battle the flames, AFP reported.
A district of the town of Hürtgenwald near the Belgian and Dutch borders was evacuated after the fire expanded from 25 hectares (around 60 acres) to 300 hectares by Friday morning.
PM Burnham offers thanks to firefighters tackling West Midlands blaze
UK prime minister Andy Burnham also responded to the wildfire in West Midlands, saying his thoughts are with everyone affected.
“I’m in touch with local leaders like [West Midlands Mayor] Richard Parker and will be speaking to emergency services on the ground as they continue their response.
Our firefighters are working in incredibly difficult conditions and putting themselves at risk to keep others safe. A huge thank you to them and everyone supporting the effort tonight.”
He added:
“Please stay safe and follow their advice.”
‘Extensive’ devastation caused by ‘one of the most significant’ incidents West Midlands Fire Service faced
The latest from West Midlands is that fire crews are making progress tackling huge blazes that led to thousands of 999 calls and caused “extensive” devastation, a fire chief said, as reported by PA.
Chief fire officer Simon Tuhill, of West Midlands Fire Service, said one huge blaze in Stourbridge, which forced some people to flee after it started tearing through homes, was “one of the most significant” incidents the region’s fire service has ever dealt with.
An update from West Midlands Fire Service on Friday morning said crews were “making progress” and “tactically working across several different areas of the site”.
Morning opening: This is too much
Jakub Krupa
A child and three firefighters were taken to hospital following the wildfire in Stourbridge as England once again joined a long – and growing – list of countries battling active fires during this year’s extraordinarily extremely hot summer.
With the hottest day of the year recorded in England on Thursday, the temperatures are expected to start to fall, but just slightly, on Friday, with low to mid 30s expected.
Across the channel, France is also expecting another hot day after temperatures of up to 41C on Thursday. Over 500 people were evacuated from the southwestern Landes region.
Over in Greece, hundreds of tourists were evacuated from the popular hotspot of Halkidiki, as firefighters continue to fight a large blaze amid gale-force winds.
At least 19 people were also injured in a fire near the Croatian tourist town of Omiš, with two people requiring hospitalisation in the popular city of Split.
I will bring you all the updates during the day. Stay safe, and drink plenty of water.
It’s Friday, 14 August 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
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