Photos Show Wildfires in Europe and North Africa

The crackling flames have left charred forests, drawing in thousands of firefighters to stop their hungry march. Residents are filling buckets of water to douse blazes in their hometowns. And tourists are huddled with their belongings, not in hotels or resorts, but in evacuation centers.

The hundreds of wildfires that raged in recent days across southern Europe and northern Africa forced the evacuations of thousands of people. A heat wave in the region has sent temperatures close to record highs and parched the land, officials say, conditions prime for the wildfires to spread.

In Greece, blazes have ravaged the forest areas of the mainland and islands, including Corfu, Evia and Rhodes. More than 20,000 people, many of them visitors, have been evacuated in recent days. In Algeria, more than 30 people have died, including 10 soldiers in the northern city of Bejaia on the Mediterranean, officials said.

Here is a selection of photographs from the wildfires.

Residents trying to extinguish a fire on the Greek island of Rhodes on Monday.

Charred trees next to a beach in the village of Kiotari on Rhodes on Monday.

A firefighter after rescuing a cat and two rabbits from a fire between the villages of Kiotari and Gennadi on Rhodes on Monday.

Firefighters trying to extinguish a forest fire raging in northwestern Tunisia near the border with Algeria on Monday.

An aircraft dropping water over flames on Rhodes on Tuesday.

Watching wildfires on Rhodes on Tuesday.

The bodies of chared goats at the edge of a road on Rhodes on Tuesday.

Tourists and residents trying to put out a fire on Rhodes on Monday.

Beach bars destroyed by wildfires on Rhodes on Tuesday.

A satellite image showing fires burning on Rhodes on Monday.

A fire near an airport in Sicily on Monday.

Tourists sheltering in a sports hall on Sunday after being evacuated following a wildfire on Rhodes.

Residents bracing for an approaching wildfire on Rhodes on Monday.

Battling a fire on Rhodes on Monday.

Watching fires near a village on Rhodes on Tuesday.