EDMONTON – Backup quarterback Tommy Stevens scored three touchdowns as the Saskatchewan Roughriders evened their season series with Edmonton, defeating the Elks 28-26 on Saturday.

The Roughriders improved to 5-2 and moved into sole possession of second place in the CFL’s West Division.

The first-place Elks, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2019, dropped to 6-2.

The game was a rematch from last week when Edmonton’s Vincent Blanchard nailed a career-best 57-yard field goal on the final play to give the Elks a 36-34 road victory in a classic contest.

The Elks had a strong start to this game, scoring on a competent opening drive as Justin Rankin fought his way through the middle for a three-yard touchdown.

The Riders came flying back on their first possession as an 87-yard kickoff return by Johnny Johnson set up a one-yard TD plunge by Stevens.

Edmonton regained the lead to start the second quarter on a 24-yard Blanchard field goal.

Saskatchewan quickly responded with another one-yard major by Stevens.

Blanchard kicked a 44-yard field goal to pull Edmonton to within a point at the half.

After a weather delay of more than an hour, Riders kicker Alex Hale missed a 42-yard field goal attempt five minutes into the third.

The Elks bounced back with a 13-yard field goal from Blanchard to inch ahead 16-14.

Edmonton looked to have made a huge defensive stand when they forced a Stevens’ fumble at its own one-yard line, but it turned out they had too many men, leading to Stevens’ third one-yard TD of the game. The two-point convert was stopped.

Blanchard kicked a 22-yard field goal with 10:20 remaining in the fourth.

Saskatchewan quarterback Trevor Harris came back with a strong drive, capped off by a four-yard pass into the end zone to KeeSean Johnson and a two-point convert toss to him as well to give the Riders a 28-19 lead.

The Elks kept fighting, as quarterback Cody Fajardo hit Rankin for a 51-yard gain and then completed the drive with a four-yard TD pass to TJ Luther with 4:36 remaining.

However, Saskatchewan was able to run out the clock.

NOTES

The Riders were without running back AJ Ouellette, who sat out with a knee injury … The Elks’ recent stronger play led to a better crowd as 31,757 attended the contest.

UP NEXT

Roughriders: Host the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday.

Elks: Visit the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday, Aug. 8.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

A Canadian Pacific Kansas City freight train derailed in Regina on Saturday morning, sending multiple shipping containers off the tracks but causing no injuries.

The derailment happened shortly before 10 a.m. as an intermodal train was moving through the Regina rail yard, CPKC said in an emailed statement to Global News.

The company said several derailed intermodal cars carrying shipping containers struck an empty potash train parked on an adjacent track.

CPKC said two locomotives and about 13 rail cars were involved.

The railway said there was no risk to public safety, and crews were at the scene working to clear the wreckage.

The cause of the derailment is under investigation.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

HAMILTON – Folarin Orimolade and Calgary’s defence earned the Stampeders a road win Saturday afternoon.

Linebacker Kyle Wilson and defensive back Derrick Moncrief scored touchdowns to pace Calgary to a 44-20 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Wilson — a former Ticat — returned a fumble recovery 28 yards for a major late in the first half before Moncrief added a 25-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter.

Calgary came in ranked eighth overall in offensive points allowed (34.4 per game) and last in net offensive yards surrendered (435.1). But on a day when the club’s prolific offence — first in the league in offensive points (37 per game) and TD scores (31) — wasn’t consistently on, the Stampeders’ defence allowed a season-low 20 points.

“When we do our job I think we’re still one of the best groups in the league,” said Orimolade, who had one of Calgary’s four sacks. “We’re getting better.

“At the end of the day, it would be terrible for us to peak early in the season and suck at the end. I think (gaining) momentum each week, that’s the recipe.”

Calgary (4-4) earned a second straight road win after last week’s 52-30 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Stampeders visit the Toronto Argonauts (3-4) on Thursday.

“We’ve been stressing getting the ball and I know as a defensive unit they take a lot of pride in improving and trying each game to be better,” said Dave Dickenson, Calgary’s head coach/GM. “We’re getting stouter against the run, we’re starting to harass quarterbacks, we are creating turnovers and tackling the ball.

“One (defensive) touchdown is nice, but two is huge.”

Calgary stater Vernon Adams Jr. finished 18-of-25 passing for 252 yards and a TD, his league-leading 21st of the season. And he managed to keep his interception-free streak this season alive, but needed a Hamilton penalty to nullify a pick in the game.

Calgary cemented the win by outscoring Hamilton 20-1 in the fourth quarter. The Ticats have been outscored 70-1 in the final quarter over their last five games.

Quincy Vaughn’s four-yard TD run at 12:04 put Calgary ahead 37-20 before Moncrief registered his interception return at 12:35.

Jude McAtamney’s 48-yard field goal at 2:04 put Calgary ahead 27-19, then he added a 29-yard boot at 7:10 after Mitch McCarthy boomed a 77-yard punt single at 3:40.

Hamilton (3-5) suffered a second straight loss and fourth in five games. Since starter Bo Levi Mitchell suffered a serious ankle injury in a 14-13 loss to Winnipeg on July 5, the Ticats’ lone win was a 24-23 decision against Toronto on July 18 when Lirim Hajrullahu missed a game-ending 31-yard field goal attempt.

Over that span, Jake Dolegala and Canadian Tre Ford have taken snaps for the Ticats. Ford made his third start Saturday but was replaced by rookie Harrison Frost late in the first half.

Frost finished nine-of-20 passing for 165 yards with a touchdown and interception and also lost a fumble. Ford, of Niagara Falls, Ont., was four-of-10 passing for 58 yards and ran four times for 52 yards but fumbled as well.

“We’re trying to figure out who our quarterback is going to be so that’s always a concerning thing,” said Hamilton head coach Scott Milanovich. “The sack-fumble on Frosty, I called the play wrong, that’s on me (but) we still have to protect better, obviously.

“I thought we played reasonably well early in the game but we weren’t able to finish drives for a number of reasons. We turned it over once and instead of playing with the lead we were playing from behind.”

Tyreik McAllister, another former Ticat, and Dejon Brissett scored Calgary’s other touchdowns. McAtamney kicked three field goals and five converts.

Kenny Lawler scored Hamilton’s touchdown. Marc Liegghio kicked four field goals and a convert.

Liegghio’s 28-yard field goal at 14:54 of the third pulled Hamilton to within 24-19. Frost found Lawler on a 24-yard touchdown pass at 1:49 after Ticat Destin Talbert steered George Idoko’s fumbled kickoff return out of bounds at the Calgary 35-yard line.

Liegghio’s 35-yard field goal to end the second quarter cut Calgary’s halftime lead to 24-6. It came after McAllister and Wilson scored touchdowns 45 seconds apart.

McAllister scored on a 15-yard run at 13:28 before Wilson returned Frost’s fumble 28 yards for the score at 14:13.

McAllister’s TD came after Hamilton’s Jamal Peters intercepted Adams but Hamilton was flagged for roughing the passer. The Ticats lost a challenge of the call.

Liegghio’s 41-yard field goal at 14:29 of the first cut Calgary’s lead to 10-6.

McAtamney put Calgary up 10-3 with a 53-yard field goal at 11:55. It was set up by Anthony Johnson’s 32-yard return of Ford’s fumble that was forced by Wilson. That happened just two plays after Ford ran 10 yards on a third-and-five gamble.

A wide-open Brissett put Calgary ahead 7-3 with a 43-yard TD grab at 6:26. It followed Liegghio’s 50-yard boot at 4:47 to open the scoring.

UP NEXT

Stampeders: Visit the Toronto Argonauts (3-4) on Thursday.

Tiger-Cats: Visit the B.C. Lions (2-5) on Saturday, Aug. 8.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

RCMP in Nova Scotia have charged a man with multiple sex crimes involving youths, and say there may be more victims.

Mounties say the investigation started last month after they learned a missing young person was staying at the home of a 38-year-old man.

They then learned that other youths had allegedly spent time with the man, either at his home or on trips away.

Police searched a home on Croft Road in Chester Basin, about 60 kilometres west of Halifax, on Wednesday, arresting the man and seizing electronic devices.

He’s been charged with luring a child, four counts of sexual assault and four counts of sexual interference.

Police say they believe there are additional victims are asking anybody with information to come forward.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

The death of 11-year-old Parker, a non-verbal autistic boy whose disappearance sparked an 11-day search involving hundreds of police officers, volunteers and community members, has left Albertans grieving and searching for ways to better protect vulnerable children.

In the wake of the tragedy, Autism Edmonton is encouraging the public to learn how to safely respond if they encounter a child who appears to be lost or in distress, stressing that a calm, informed approach can make a critical difference.

Executive director Cassandra Rascal acknowledged the heartbreak many families are feeling, particularly parents of autistic children who know how quickly a wandering incident can become dangerous.

“I think first off, acknowledge your feelings. They are valid,” Rascal said in an interview with Global News. “I think collectively we’re experiencing grief. A lot of love and support was poured into Calgary and this is definitely not the outcome we wanted.”

She said many of the organization’s members have shared stories of children wandering away in the past, leaving parents shaken by how close they came to tragedy.

“I know many parents, especially those with autistic kiddos, this is so close to home,” she said. “Really hug your loved ones, love your loved one and just embrace community right now.”

While the tragedy has prompted an outpouring of support, Rascal said it has also highlighted the importance of understanding how to help a neurodivergent child who may be lost.

Because autism is often described as an “invisible disability,” she said it may not be immediately apparent that a child is autistic.

If someone believes they have encountered a lost or distressed autistic or neurodivergent child, Rascal recommends calling authorities immediately while calmly observing the child from a safe distance.

“You don’t want to yell. You don’t want to get into their personal space,” she said.

Instead, she suggests using a few simple words, introducing yourself and reassuring the child that you are there to help.

“Fewer words are better. You can say, ‘Hi, my name is Cassandra. I’m here to help,’ and keep it at that.”

If possible, she said, start by identifying a child’s special interest — it could be Disney, trains or another favourite topic — to help establish a connection while first responders are on the way.

Just as important, Rascal said there are things well-meaning bystanders should avoid doing. Yelling, touching the child, crowding their personal space and asking too many questions can become overwhelming and may cause the child to flee or hide.

“You don’t want sensory overload because then that could cause the opposite reaction of what you want,” she explained.

Rascal said increasing public understanding of autism can help ensure bystanders respond in ways that support rather than overwhelm a child in distress.

The tragedy has also led many Albertans to seek a better understanding of autism.

Rascal said organizations such as Autism Edmonton, Autism Calgary and Autism Society Alberta offer educational resources, webinars and community programs for families and the public.

She noted that autism has a prevalence rate of one in 44 across Canada, and that with diagnosis wait times often stretching two to three years, the true number may be even higher.

Rascal said the overwhelming community response during the search demonstrated how much people wanted to help.

“Once the community knew what to do, it was incredible, the support and care that was in Calgary,” she said.

Beyond education, Autism Edmonton provides front-line navigation services for families following a diagnosis, helps connect them with available supports and operates a low-sensory pantry program for those experiencing food insecurity.

Rascal also voiced support for a proposed alert system for vulnerable children, sometimes referred to as an Indigo Alert.

She said any future legislation should be shaped not only by advocates and first responders, but also by the families who live these experiences every day.

“Ensuring that the right people are at the table … but most importantly the families that this affects, so that their voices are heard.”

Rascal encouraged Albertans to continue learning about autism and to support organizations working with neurodivergent individuals, saying greater awareness can help communities respond more effectively when vulnerable children go missing.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Pimicikamak Cree Nation, a  First Nation community in northern Manitoba, has been placed under lockdown after a fatal shooting prompted an ongoing RCMP investigation.

Chief David Monias posted about the lockdown early Saturday, saying one person has died following what he described as a “serious incident” involving gunfire. RCMP Major Crime Services is investigating.

Treaty and Indian Days celebrations have been cancelled until further notice, according to the chief.

Residents have been told to stay inside their homes, lock their doors and windows, keep children indoors and avoid opening their doors to anyone they do not know.

“This lockdown is a precautionary measure to protect every member of our community while police conduct their investigation,” Monias said in a social media post.

In an update posted Saturday afternoon, Monias said some residents are not following the lockdown and is urging them to “stay home.”

Monias said a body is coming today and urges residents to respect the family’s privacy.

“We have a funeral that is happening today. It’s going to be only immediate close relatives, no strangers allowed, if you don’t have to go, please stay home.”

He also urged residents to report suspicious activity directly to police and avoid sharing unconfirmed information on social media.

“If you have information, please call police and tell what you know,” Monias said. “Don’t let any conspiracy of silence occur.”

RCMP had not released additional details about the shooting or identified the victim as of Friday afternoon.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Doctors at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children say they are seeing a growing number of children seriously injured in e-scooter crashes, with some suffering traumatic injuries and complex fractures.

“It’s been exponential really,” Dr. Suzanne Beno, a pediatric emergency physician and co-medical director of SickKids’ trauma program, said about the influx of children with injuries.

Bono said e-scooter injuries reached a “tipping point” in 2024 and have doubled every year since.

“This year, we’re seeing several, three to five, e-scooter injuries a week at SickKids.”

While some children arrive with minor injuries, Beno said more are being rushed to the hospital’s trauma bay after high-speed crashes or collisions with vehicles.

“We see a lot of patients with head injuries, thoracic injuries, some spine injuries, some abdominal injuries and a lot of fractures,” Beno said.

“A lot of these injuries are requiring operative care, intensive care or prolonged rehabilitation.”

Severe injuries becoming routine

For Dr. Carolyn Rutten, a pediatric emergency radiologist at SickKids, reviewing scans from e-scooter crashes has become a routine part of overnight shifts.

“At this point in the summer, they’re almost daily,” Rutten said.

She said the fractures she sees are often far more severe than those from typical playground accidents.

“With e-scooters we see more severe fractures,” Rutten said. “The fractures are often more severely displaced than they would be for playground trauma.”

The hospital is also seeing an increasing number of traumatic brain injuries.

Rutten said children can suffer skull fractures and bleeding inside the brain that can create dangerous pressure, sometimes requiring surgeons to remove part of the skull to save the child’s life.

When asked whether children should be riding e-scooters, she replied, “I really wish they weren’t.”

Long recoveries

Dr. Joshua Ramjist, a pediatric general surgeon and trauma medical co-director, said many families don’t realize how serious the injuries can be.

“They function like any other motorized vehicle and the injury patterns we see as a result of them resemble those of high-speed motor vehicle accidents,” he said.

Ramjist said many of the injuries involve multiple parts of the body, including the head, chest and abdomen, often leaving children with long recoveries.

“It’s more than just broken bones,” he said. “It’s multi-organ injuries.”

Some children require lengthy surgeries, repeated operations, time in intensive care and weeks or even months of rehabilitation before they can return to normal activities, Ramjist said.

As e-scooters become more common, Beno said prevention needs to go beyond simply encouraging children to wear helmets.

She said stronger public education, clearer regulations, better enforcement and safer infrastructure are all needed to reduce the number of serious injuries.

Beno also said many parents don’t realize that privately owned e-scooters can travel much faster than rental models.

Rutten said SickKids researchers have documented crashes involving speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour.

“The higher the speed, the higher impact the trauma is and the more severe it is on the body,” Rutten said.

Beno said children under 16 should not be riding e-scooters because many lack the physical and cognitive skills needed to safely operate them.

“It’s tragic because it’s so preventable,” she said.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Four months into the job, NDP Leader Avi Lewis is still in no rush.

Since winning the leadership of a party knocked to its knees in the 2025 federal election, Lewis has maintained his immediate priority is preparing the NDP for an election — not winning a seat in the House of Commons. Multiple byelections are set to take place before the end of the year; Lewis will be door-knocking with candidates in those ridings but won’t be on the ballot himself.

“I think there will be a point in the next year where I feel we’re election-ready across the country. We want to run serious campaigns everywhere,” Lewis said in a recent interview in Montreal’s Plateau neighbourhood.

“We’re in a position as a party on the rebound where I can’t just pursue a seat at all costs. So I do need a litmus test for when is it time for me to get in there? And that’s going be either in the next election or the run-up to the next election, once we are election-ready.”

Lewis ran and lost in Vancouver ridings in both the 2021 and 2025 elections.

He has spent the last three weeks in Montreal campaigning with NDP candidates Pierre Céré and Nima Machouf, who are running in the Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie and Laurier-Ste-Marie ridings respectively.

Maps of those two ridings cover part of an office wall in a Montreal Presbyterian church where Lewis has been taking daily one-on-one, three-hour French lessons while in the city.

“Normally when you do French immersion, you go to Jonquière or Trois-Rivières or somewhere outside of Montreal, because it’s a very bilingual city. I’ve made a real effort to stay in French here by knocking on doors in these two byelections that are coming up,” Lewis said.

His French lessons have focused on political communication. Wednesday’s lesson began with his teacher critiquing an interview he did a day earlier with Radio-Canada.

While Lewis’s teacher did pause the interview periodically to discuss his pronunciation and phrasing, she did a celebratory fist pump when the Radio-Canada host complimented his French at the end of the interview.

The NDP is looking to hold Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, currently represented by Independent Alexandre Boulerice, who left the NDP caucus after announcing plans to run in the Quebec election this fall.

Former Liberal cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault has said he will resign as MP for Laurier-Ste-Marie.

Lewis spent part of a recent French lesson studying a Guilbeault interview on the Radio-Canada program “Tout le monde en parle” from Nov. 30, 2025 about his resignation from cabinet. He said he was studying host Guy A. Lepage’s interview style and political rhetoric techniques in Québécois French.

Lewis knows his party history. Former leader Jack Layton’s appearance on the program during the 2011 election campaign is widely credited with helping to drive the NDP’s breakthrough in the province — a feat Lewis hopes to replicate.

The last election saw the NDP reduced to just seven seats in the House of Commons. Since then, Nunavut MP Lori Idlout joined the Liberals and Boulerice left federal politics entirely — leaving Lewis with a five-member caucus that could comfortably carpool to the House of Commons in a family sedan.

That has left the party with no standing on parliamentary committees and reduced visibility in question period. Lewis said the caucus and NDP supporters don’t want him tied to Ottawa when he can be out knocking on doors.

Lewis attributed the NDP’s staggering loss last year to widespread anxiety brought on by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war. That fear still exists, he said, and many people still see Prime Minister Mark Carney as the best person to handle the situation.

But Lewis also said he sees signs of “buyer’s remorse” among New Democrats who voted Liberal in 2025, and among Liberals offended by Carney’s embrace of artificial intelligence, higher military spending and his “doubling down on fossil fuels in the midst of a climate emergency.”

“There are lots of progressive Liberals who are ready to come over and I think that we have the potential to flip some seats in the next election in places that may surprise people,” he said, adding the NDP will be there when Canadians are “ready to actually get back to voting their values.”

He may be on to something. A recent Angus Reid online poll suggests that one in six 2025 Liberal voters now say they would support the NDP, and half of those voters cite climate change as their top political priority.

(The Canadian Research Insights Council, an industry organization that promotes polling standards, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.)

Lewis said he sees the downtown Montreal ridings as “very progressive” areas where the NDP can compete by calling Israel’s war in Gaza a genocide, condemning Israeli and American military action in the Middle East and supporting green energy over increased fossil fuel production.

Lewis said that after he’s done in Montreal, he’ll head to the Toronto riding of Beaches-East York and to North Vancouver-Capilano in the coming weeks. Byelections will be held in those ridings and in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord in Quebec on Aug. 31.

The NDP does not have candidates in those ridings yet, but Lewis said volunteers are out canvassing ahead of the vote.

Lewis said the party planned to have full nomination contests in those ridings but did not anticipate Carney calling summer byelections. He said he may have to appoint candidates in those ridings.

These byelections will test Lewis’s claim that, after losing support to both the Liberals and Conservatives last year, his party is regaining lost ground in key constituencies.

Lewis said he’s seeing signs that one key constituency the NDP lost in part to the Conservatives is starting to come back: young people. He said young Canadians who are struggling with an unaffordable housing market and staring down threats like artificial intelligence and climate change are giving the party a second look.

“If we can excite young people to actually go out and vote, which they don’t do in the same numbers that other demographics do, there could be a big surprise coming … either in these byelections or in the next election,” he said. “And it will come at the expense of the Conservative votes that we lost, rather than the Liberal ones.”

If the NDP can siphon votes from Conservatives, he said, it undermines one of the Liberals’ key arguments — that votes for New Democrats only elevate Conservatives.

“If we’re taking from both sides, the strategic voting argument just doesn’t work the same way,” he said. “Liberals can’t hold people’s vote hostage and say, ‘If you don’t vote us, then you get the Conservatives,’ when the NDP shows that we can take votes from the Conservatives as well.”

© 2026 The Canadian Press

A cold front bringing strong winds and thunderstorms, with little to no rain, is expected to sweep over southern B.C. this long weekend, fanning out-of-control wildfires that already threaten several communities.

The BC Wildfire Service says the winds will lead to challenging firefighting conditions, and it’s likely new lightning-caused wildfires will start due to the tinder-dry conditions.

A large swath of evacuation orders has been issued by the Thompson-Nicola and Cariboo regional districts in front of the Pear Lake fire, which has grown to more than 900 square kilometres.

More than 1,800 properties have been ordered evacuated from an area that is more than 70 kilometres long and 65 kilometres wide, while the evacuation alerts fan out even further.

The T’it’q’et First Nation, near Lillooet, also issued an evacuation order overnight due to the Riley Creek Wildfire, covering T’it’q’et Indian Reserve #2, Towinock, and Indian Reserve #3, Kilchult.

Almost 110 active wildfires are burning in the province, with 48 of them considered out of control as of this morning.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Europe’s wildfire emergency eased across much of western Europe on Saturday, with major fires in France and Spain no longer advancing and Portugal’s main blaze under control.

But the crisis worsened in Greece, where gale-force winds drove flames through a seaside resort and triggered fresh evacuations.

In southwestern France, firefighters held a vast wildfire within its perimeter, with about 198,000 people now allowed home after what may have been the country’s largest peacetime evacuation.

A second French fire that raced across 10 square kilometers (4 square miles) in six hours Friday — “faster than a horse at full gallop,” according to the prefecture — also stopped expanding overnight. But it remained active Saturday and 2,500 people were still unable to return home.

The progress marked a sharp turn from the height of the crisis, when fires in France and Spain alone drove a third of a million people from homes and vacation sites, emptied towns during the summer holiday season and stretched firefighters, aircraft and emergency services across simultaneous emergencies.

Portugal’s major wildfire was declared under control, while Spain’s largest fires were no longer making sustained advances and most evacuation orders had been lifted.

But Europe’s emergency isn’t over; its most dangerous front has shifted toward Greece. New fires erupted Saturday as powerful winds whipped up flames, carried embers across dry landscapes and prevented some aircraft from collecting water or approaching closely enough to make drops.

The danger carried grim resonance in Attica, where the 2018 wildfire at the seaside community of Mati killed 104 people, making it the world’s second-deadliest wildfire of the 21st century.

Europe is Earth’s fastest-warming continent, heating at more than twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus climate service. Rising temperatures and prolonged drought leave vegetation drier and more combustible, allowing fires to spread faster and burn more intensely.

Cap Ferret remains evacuated

The Gironde fire has burned 420 square kilometers (162 square miles) of pine forest west of Bordeaux, an area four times the size of Paris.

Firefighters said it remained contained within that perimeter Saturday. But it had not been declared “fixed” — the point at which crews determine that a fire is no longer advancing — and active sectors and buried hot spots persisted.

Several communities remained largely deserted. Authorities kept much of the affluent, forested Cap Ferret peninsula evacuated because a nearby hot spot could flare again, cut its limited road access and trap people allowed back.

“Today, the fire is still not fixed. It is contained,” Lt. Col. Eric Pitault told reporters.

Crews used tactical burns overnight, deliberately consuming vegetation ahead of active sectors. They still faced about 240 kilometers (149 miles) of fire edges where heat can remain buried underground and erupt again.

The fire’s toll extended beyond people and property. Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of France’s League for the Protection of Birds, told RMC radio that animals affected already numbered in the millions.

Fire roars back in southern France

In the Var, defensive lines around the Gros Bessillon fire held overnight and no additional ground burned, Var Prefect Simon Babre told French media Saturday.

But the fire remained active. About 2,500 people were still unable to return home, and 1,300 firefighters were deployed.

The blaze’s sudden return “defies understanding,” Babre said.

Twenty French departments were under an orange heat warning Saturday, mostly in the east and southeast. Temperatures of 35 to 39 C (95 to 102 F) were forecast around the Mediterranean, while eight departments faced a high forest-fire risk.

Gale-force winds batter Greek resort

In Greece, hundreds of firefighters fought Saturday to protect Porto Germeno, a popular resort on the Gulf of Corinth, as gale-force winds drove flames through the coastal area west of Athens.

The fire broke out Friday near the neighboring village of Agios Vasileios. About 300 people were evacuated by sea, and authorities issued further evacuation orders Saturday.

Towering flames devoured thick pine forest around Porto Germeno as smoke blocked out the sun.

“A pristine forest, a paradise, was surrendered to the hands of the fire,” said Minas Tzortzanis, a 60-year-old farmer and local resident. “There are no words to explain what has happened. Destruction. Total destruction.”

Tzortzanis said homes, trees and animals in the forest had been destroyed.

Theodore Giannaros, a wildfire meteorologist at the National Observatory of Athens, estimated that 40 to 50 square kilometers (15 to 19 square miles) had been affected, although authorities had not issued an official burned-area figure.

Nearly 500 firefighters, along with specialized forest-fire teams and crews temporarily deployed from France and Romania, were backed by 19 water-dropping planes and 11 helicopters. Local authorities said homes had been destroyed, but a complete count was not immediately available.

New fires broke out elsewhere in Greece on Saturday. A blaze east of Nafpaktos prompted evacuation alerts for at least four villages.

“The very strong to gale-force winds continue to create exceptionally difficult conditions,” Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Evangelos Tournas said. He said extreme turbulence was preventing some aircraft from collecting water or approaching the fires closely enough to make drops.

© 2026 The Canadian Press