Europe wildfires: latest developments

PARIS (FRANCE) - Two people died when fires broke out on a Greek island, and Belgium was tackling a record blaze in its east Sunday, as Europe faced wildfires spurred by high temperatures and tinder-dry conditions.

A historically hot summer has already contributed to the deaths of thousands of people -- and increased the risk of forest fires. Here are the latest developments:

- Greece deaths -

Two people died and hundreds were evacuated from popular beaches when two fires broke out on the Greek island of Salamis near Athens, the fire department said.

"There are hundreds of bathers and permanent residents, an evacuation order has been issued," the fire service's deputy spokesman Yiannis Artopios told state TV ERT.

- Belgium fire grows -

Military helicopters backed by tractors on the ground hauled water to help firefighters tame Belgium's largest modern-day wildfire, burning in a hard-to-access nature reserve.

No deaths have been reported, but the blaze -- whose origins are still unknown -- has grown from 80 hectares (200 acres) burnt on Friday to nearly 3,000 hectares on Sunday.

- Croatia arrests -

Croatian police said they had arrested four people suspected of starting some of the wildfires that have swept parts of the Adriatic coast in recent days.

The four are suspected of setting fires that scorched pine forests and olive groves as Croatia battles a wave of blazes fuelled by drought and heat.

- France fire stabilised -

A fire that burnt 1,700 hectares in Landes in southwestern France has been stabilised after three days of ground and air operations.

Local official Gilles Clavreul said the situation was evolving "favourably" as temperatures had dropped -- 28C expected in the afternoon compared with 40C when the fire broke out on Thursday -- and humidity had risen.

Around 650 people had been evacuated due to the fire but were not yet allowed to return to their homes.