60+ Distressing Images of the Worldwide Wildfire Season 2021

Following a horrific 2020 fire season, the 2021 wildfire season has been one of the most devastating in history. Ominous signs had popped up early this year as worsening droughts and unprecedented early heatwaves started to affect various regions of the world.

Increased extreme weather caused by climate change has increased the intensity and scale of fires on multiple continents. Fueled by summer heatwaves and high winds, wildfires have swept through millions of acres of land in Siberia, the Pacific Northwest and Southeastern Europe. The infernos have decimated entire towns, forests and left death and destruction in their wake.

According to a fire season forecast from AccuWeather, up to 9.5 million acres could burn this year. However, with the ongoing wildfires, it would seem that this above-average wildfire season is likely to continue through September or maybe longer.

Here we have compiled a horrific account of the 2021 wildfire season in 60+ pictures from all over the world, which are a glimpse of the repercussions of human-induced climate change and global warming on the planet and all of its inhabitants.

A home consumed by flames in the River Fire, a wildfire burning in Grass Valley, California. Thousands will be left homeless after this devastating fire season is over.

Flames make their way across the front deck of a home in Grass Valley, California. Over 150,000 people are experiencing homelessness amid California wildfires.

Firefighters battle the wildfires at Feslegen Plateau in Milas district of Mugla, Turkey.

Firefighters rush to move bushes away from homes that are threatened by the River Fire near the Placer County town of Grass Valley, California.

Wildfires burning close to the Kemerköy power plant in Muğla, Turkey, where firefighters and volunteers have been trying to keep the embers away from the area.

In the aftermath of the Dixie Fire in Greenville, California, a commercial building still shoulders.

A firefighting helicopter pours water over a fire in Varympompi in Acharnes, Greece, as the country reels under a severe heatwave.

Firefighters have also been rescuing animals from advancing fires in Bodrum, Muğla, Turkey and other aflame regions.

A forest burning near the Mediterranean resort area in Marmaris district of Muğla, where massive evacuation had been underway as the fires approached.

People trying to contain a blaze in the Manavgat district as the temperature rise and strong winds fanned the flames toward residential areas.

An aerial view of Antalya’s Manavgat district after a fire decimated many parts of the town, with embers still burning and smoke rising.

Wildfires have ravaged the entire forest area in İçmeler region near Marmaris, Turkey, leaving the hills charred and bare.

People herd cattle and sheep away from an advancing fire in Muğla’s Marmaris district, as flames eat up pastures and forests and move toward residential areas.

Firefighters have been tirelessly trying to control the fires in Muğla, where wildfires erupted in July marking the worst-ever infernos in the country’s history.

Entire forests have been burned down to ashes in Antalya’s Manavgat district in Turkey.

A helicopter douses a forest fire in Muğla’s Marmaris district, where residents and tourists were prompted to evacuate villages, towns and some of the country’s most popular resort areas.

Two firefighters taking account of the Dixie Fire in California, which has consumed 278,000 acres and was only 35% contained three weeks after it erupted.

Flames devour a home as the Dixie Fire ravages through the Indian Falls community of Plumas County, California.

People stand behind the fire line as flames from the Steptoe Canyon Fire spread through dry grassland in Colton, Washington. Wildfire season 2021 is becoming even more devastating than the previous year.

The Sugar Fire, part of the Beckworth Complex Fire, consumes a home as it tears through Doyle, California.

The Sugar Fire sends embers flying around in a field in Doyle, which has been ravaged by a wildfire for the second time in less than a year.

Taken in early July, this long-exposure photograph shows flames surrounding a drought-stricken Shasta Lake during the Salt Fire in Lakehead, California.

Raging wildfire devours a forest in Marmaris district, Turkey.

Forest fires in the Manavgat district of the resort town Antalya, where people have been evacuated although wildlife is suffering immensely.

The village of Lytton, in British Columbia, was destroyed by a wildfire after temperatures reached a scorching 49.6 Degrees Celsius — a record for Canada.

Smoke and flames rise skyward during the Sparks Lake wildfire at Thompson-Nicola Regional District, British Columbia.

The Embleton Mountain Wildfire ripping down the mountain in British Columbia, Canada.

Gigantic flames of the Dixie Fire in the Plumas National Forest rising toward the sky while devouring a forest.

Smoke rises from a forest outside the village of Berdigestyakh in Sakha Republic, Russia, as the Siberian region is ravaged by severe fires.

Following a June heatwave, wildfires swept over 1.5 million hectares of Yakutia’s taiga forests.

A wildfire ravaging a lush forest outside the village of Berdigestyakh in Sakha Republic, Russia.

A fire engulfs a house in the village near Bodrum, in Mugla province. Many people will be left to pick up the pieces of their life once the fires are out.

Firefighters battle to extinguish flames next to a boat in the ancient city of Milas in Muğla Province in southwestern Turkey.

As the wildfires approach the northeastern suburbs of Athens, a statue of goddess Athena is seen as wildfire burns at Varympompi.

A raging inferno spread across southeastern Oregon, fueled by dangerous “fire clouds” containing heat and spreading embers across the drought-stricken region during the Bootleg Fire.

The aftermath of the Dixie Fire near Greenville, California, left death and destruction in its wake.

The smoke from the Dixie Fire fills the sky in Greenville, California, which has become the largest fire of the western US state.

Wildfires illuminating the night sky in Muğla’s Marmaris district, the hills are aglow with the countless infernos ravaging them.

Wildfires burn on the mountain near Limni village on the island of Enia, about 100 miles north of Athens, Greece.

The Bootleg Fire burning through the southeast Oregon region, where flames ravage the lands and smoke fills the sky.

The Dixie Fire burning on highway 89, California. The fire has become the largest and most destructive in the state’s history.

Smoke engulfs trees from the Sugar Fire, which is a part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, California.

A truck driver watches as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, burns in Doyle, California.

Flames consume a home as the Sugar Fire tears through Doyle, a small town in Lassen Country.

The Beckwourth Complex Fire spread beyond state lines over to neighboring states and continues to burn across 83,926 acres of land, destroying homes.

Entire homes and vehicles were engulfed in the flames, however, despite the continued risk of fires, people still plan to rebuild from the ashen grounds.

Firefighters trying to contain the Sugar Fire, which became California’s first mega fire of the year as the Dixie Fire tripled in size.

A spotted deer is spotted running away from a burning area in Plumas National Forest during the Beckwourth Complex Fire.

Two firefighters trying to douse an aflame part of the Plumas National Forest.

The Plumas National Forest is seen alight in the night as the Sugar Fire ravages the wildlife.

Firefighters taking the account of the wildfire in Plumas National Forest as the Sugar Fire devours the flora and fauna in the forest.

Flames burn on a mountain during a wildfire near Limni village on the island of Evia, near Athens, Greece.

The night sky is alight as the Dixie Fire approaches residential areas in California, where many people have lost their homes.

The east side of the Tamarack Fire, which crossed the California state line into Nevada.

Flames rise skyward in Schinos, Greece, with firefighters trying to extinguish these enormous flames in May 2021.

Firefighters combating a flame in a forest near the Manavgat district of Antalya, Turkey.

A firefighter spraying water on a forest fire near Manavgat district, where high temperatures and wind speed made the task enormously difficult.

In Siberia, the unprecedented heatwave ignited forest fires that are threatening to expose permafrost, leading to further warming of the region.

An aerial photograph of houses surrounded by a wildfire that engulfed a Mediterranean resort region on Turkey’s southern coast near the town of Manavgat.

Oregon’s Bootleg Fire has been burning in the Fremont-Winema National Forest along the Oregon and California border since the beginning of July.

The Bootleg Fire has burned through nearly half a million acres of forests and grasslands, forcing thousands of people to evacuate.

Since beginning on June 6, the Bootleg Fire has devoured an area larger than the city of Los Angeles.

Named after Bootleg Spring, the fire has forced at least 2,000 residents from mostly rural areas to abandon their homes.

Paramilitary police officers and people watch as a wildfire fueled by strong winds rage near the Mediterranean coastal town of Manavgat, Antalya, Turkey.

Tourists had to be evacuated by boat as the fire approached famous establishments in the resort town of Bodrum, Turkey.

In 2021, more than 267 major fires have been detected razing almost 105,000 hectares of the Amazon Rainforest.

As of 6 August 2021, the Bootleg Fire has burned 413,765 acres and is 87% contained and is estimated to be extinguished by October. It has become one of the worst wildfires in the 2021 wildfire season.

The Bootleg Fire has been creating a towering cloud of hot air, smoke and moisture that has produced lightning.

A local resident looks at flames devouring a residential area as a wildfire burns in the village of Schinos, near Corinth, Greece.