CCTV footage appears to show the man setting fire to patches of grass in the Bulgarian city of Veliko Tarnovo - Reuters

An arson suspect was caught on CCTV lighting fires in Bulgaria while deadly wildfires continue to sweep across the country and neighbouring Turkey and Greece.

Firefighters were battling 160 wildfires across the Black Sea nation on Monday as much of southern Europe baked under an unabating and deadly heatwave.

The footage showed a man appearing to set fire to patches of grass next to a pavement, with flames quickly spreading as he casually walks away. Authorities detained the 33-year-old and charged him with terrorism.

In Bulgaria, about 90 per cent of blazes have been caused by human error and negligence, said Miroslav Rashkov, the head of the interior ministry. He added that several suspects had been arrested for arson.

Meanwhile, at least 14 people have been killed in Turkey, where infernos are raging across three different regions, stoked by strong winds after days of searing heat.

Firefighters battled wildfires at about 100 locations across Bulgaria on Sunday - Hristo Vladev/Anadolu via Getty Images

According to forecasts, temperatures are not expected to cool down, with 45C to 50C heat expected in the country’s south-east on Tuesday.

The heatwave has exacerbated forest fires – which are growing in their frequency each summer as temperatures increase and rainfall decreases – that spread rapidly in dry, windy conditions.

“We are burning up – we don’t even know where to go any more,” Asmin Gezginci, 24, told AFP while returning from a park to her home in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir.

In Bursa, in the country’s north-west, three firefighters were killed when their vehicle crashed on Sunday, authorities said on Monday.

More than 3,600 had to be evacuated around Bursa, while 19 villages had to be evacuated in the Safranbolu region in the north.

Firefighters tackle a wildfire outside the city of Bursa in north-west Turkey - Mustafa Bikec/Anadolu via Getty Images

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, said on Monday that more than 3,000 fires had broken out since the beginning of summer, some as the result of arson.

In a televised address, he added that 96 per cent of the fires were caused by human activity, such as cigarette butts and picnic fires.

“Let us not forget that this is a war, a defence of our green homeland, against this insidious enemy,” Mr Erdogan told the nation.

Greece also struggled to clear up after a devastating week of forest fires that ravaged homes and sparked evacuations across the country.

At least 44 new wildfires broke out across the country in the past 24 hours, the fire service said on Monday, while Spanish planes were deployed to help Portuguese firefighters tackle a blaze on a remote mountain.

A helicopter dumps water on a wildfire on Ymittos mountain near Athens in Greece - Alexandros Vlachos/EPA/Shutterstock

Italy is also sweltering under the heatwave. On Sunday in Sardinia, about 140 tourists were forced to flee by boat from a beach in the south of the island when a huge wildfire broke out nearby, blocking other escape routes.

In Albania, more than 900 firefighters, assisted by the army, struggled to control a wildfire before it reached the seaside city of Sarandë and other tourist resorts in the south. About 13 people have been arrested for arson-related offences in the past three days, police said.

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