Drone footage shows the aftermath of wildfires that swept through Spain's Galicia region:: Verin, Spain:: The country was battling 14 major blazes driven by high winds and aggravated by heat:: The flames have consumed around 388,

The scale of this summer’s wildfires has prompted unprecedented requests for help from the European Union’s civil protection mechanism. Spain, for the first time, asked for firefighting aircraft from EU partners.

Firefighters in Spain, Portugal and Greece battled ongoing wildfires Friday, an important religious holiday in all three countries, as persistent hot, dry conditions challenged efforts to contain the blazes.

ATHENS, Greece -- Fire crews in Greece, Spain and Portugal raced to contain wildfires on Thursday, taking advantage of calmer winds that slowed the blazes even as much of southern Europe remained at high risk under hot, dry conditions.

Europe’s wildfire crisis intensified as blazes across Greece, Spain, France and Portugal forced thousands to from their homes — killing at least six and consuming over 1 million acres amid record heat and worsening climate conditions.

Firefighters have been battling to put out blazes across southern Europe in one of the worst summers for wildfires in 20 years

Mircea Spiridon, a 50-year-old Romanian man, died in the Spanish region of Tres Cantos while saving an 83-year-old man, the owner of the riding stables razed to the ground in the same fire. The Romanian arrived in Spain 20 years ago.

Spiridon was one of three people to die in Spain’s wildfires this week, each of them ordinary people who saw the flames and rushed to help.