ATHENS, Greece (AP) \u2014 Two firefighting helicopters collided Sunday while battling a wind-driven wildfire in the Porto Germeno area west of Athens, and footage showed one of the aircraft crashing to the ground.<\/p>\n
Each helicopter was carrying a two-person crew, the Greek fire department said. A search-and-rescue operation was underway. Authorities did not immediately provide information on the crews\u2019 condition.<\/p>\n
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP\u2019s earlier story follows below.<\/p>\n
LACANAU, France (AP) \u2014 Europe\u2019s wildfire crisis split into three stark fronts Sunday: gale-force winds drove flames deeper into the Athens region and forced fresh evacuations, France guarded a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris<\/a>, and Spain\u2019s major fires stopped advancing.<\/p>\n The most immediate danger was in Greece. Flames spread through western Attica, the region around Athens, threatening communities and an industrial district outside Megara as violent gusts prevented firefighting aircraft from collecting water from the sea. The danger carried grim resonance in a region where the 2018 Mati wildfire killed 104 people, Europe\u2019s deadliest blaze this century.<\/p>\n Farther west, containment brought no end to the emergency. France\u2019s largest wildfire remained held within its perimeter after forcing 224,000 people to flee in what may have been the country\u2019s largest civilian evacuation outside wartime<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hot spots still burned within a 420-square-kilometer (162-square-mile) 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.<\/p>\n Together, fires in France and Spain have driven roughly 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.<\/p>\n Record fire damage underscores Europe\u2019s growing wildfire threat<\/p>\n The mass evacuations in France and Spain are the latest measure of a wildfire threat growing across Europe.<\/p>\n The continent entered 2026 after its worst fire year on record, with more than 10,000 square kilometers (3,860 square miles) 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.<\/p>\n Europe is the world\u2019s fastest-warming continent. It has warmed more than twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union\u2019s Copernicus Climate Change Service.<\/p>\n Human-caused climate change made the extreme fire-weather conditions behind this year\u2019s French blazes<\/a> at least twice as likely, scientists at World Weather Attribution found in a rapid analysis<\/a> conducted while the fires were still burning.<\/p>\n Gale-force winds cripple aerial assault near Athens<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was briefed on the operation.<\/p>\n