It’s hard to describe what it feels like when the air turns thick with smoke. Not the kind from a campfire — this is heavier, bitter, it clings to your throat. That’s what people across parts of Turkey, Greece, and Albania are dealing with right now. Fires are everywhere, and no one really knows when it’s going to stop.
In Turkey, things have taken a bad turn. In the Black Sea province of Karabuk — about a two-hour drive north of Ankara — a fire has been burning for six straight days. Whole hillsides have gone up in flames, and more than a dozen villages have been evacuated. People left with what they could carry. Smoke’s been rolling across the mountains, and it’s not letting up.
Tragically, three firefighters died in Bursa on Sunday — their truck crashed while heading into the fire zone. And last week, ten more lost their lives fighting another fire in central Turkey. It’s been like this for weeks now. In the southern regions — Mersin and Antalya, where people usually go to vacation — over 3,600 residents had to leave their homes behind. Flames there too, tearing through dry land that hasn’t seen real rain in weeks.
This kind of summer isn’t exactly rare in this part of the world — dry, hot, windy — but year by year, it’s becoming something else. More brutal. Less predictable. The fires start faster and spread wider. There’s not much margin for error anymore.
Greece isn’t faring much better. Just in the last 24 hours, there were 44 fires reported. In Kythera, a beautiful southern island, flames that started days ago flared up again because of strong winds. Near Athens, a blaze broke out close to Mount Hymettus — dangerously close to a university and a packed residential area. Firefighters got to it quickly, thankfully, but the sense of vulnerability hangs in the air.
Over in Albania, there’s another battle underway. Nearly a thousand firefighters, plus help from the army, are trying to hold back a fire near the popular resort city of Saranda. It’s inching closer to hotels and homes on the Ionian coast. Thirteen people were arrested recently, suspected of starting fires — deliberately or not, it’s unclear.
Bulgaria's been dragged into this too. A fire near the Turkish border has already scorched over 16,000 acres. Fireplanes from other countries have been sent in to help. Two people were taken into custody there as well, possibly linked to how the fire started.
Meanwhile, Greece has had to evacuate several villages, and at least five people have been injured in the chaos. And while the fires rage, Serbia, oddly enough, got a break. Some rain rolled in and helped tamp down more than a hundred smaller fires. A little bit of good news — rare these days.
What’s striking is how quickly all this unfolds. One minute it’s just heat. The next, there’s smoke in the distance. Then helicopters. Sirens. Ash falling from the sky. And suddenly, people are packing up and driving away, not knowing if anything will be left when they return.
That’s where we are now — another burning summer. And people are tired. Firefighters are pushing past exhaustion, doing shifts that would wear out anyone. Some haven’t slept properly in days. But they keep going, because there’s no other choice.
You can’t help but wonder — how much worse will it get? And when will this stop being “news” and just start being what summer looks like from now on?