Article By Polly Davis Doig
Thousands evacuated and firefighters are stretched as high winds spread flames
Southern France’s already baked landscape is now burning, reports Reuters, with firefighters racing to contain multiple wildfires driven by strong winds and lingering heat. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said three fires, including two on the outskirts of Marseille, have burned about 2,990 acres so far, with no casualties reported. The largest blaze is near the Spanish border in the Aude area, where roughly 2,200 acres have gone up in flames and 800 firefighters are on the ground, hampered by gusty conditions. French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said nearly 7,000 fires have broken out since the start of the summer season, with some 22,000 acres already burned. “The situation is fairly tense,” he said, per the AP.
Lecornu traveled to Marseille for a crisis meeting Thursday as yet another fire ignited near Roquemaure in the Gard region. Smaller blazes near Marseille’s airport and in Lancon-Provence were largely contained, though smoke was strong enough that at least one arriving pilot felt the need to reassure passengers. Farther east, more than 2,000 people were cleared from six campsites near Frejus after a nearby forest fire. The World Meteorological Organization has warned that prolonged high temperatures, low humidity, and dry vegetation are raising wildfire risks across Western Europe, and France’s weather service is signaling another heat spike next week, after a June hot spell that may have contributed to about 1,000 excess deaths.
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