About 600 firefighters, supported by six water-bomber aircraft, were battling to douse two wildfires in the southwest on Wednesday. FranceWhich has already burned more than 1,700 hectares and prompted the evacuation of thousands of tourists.
“Significant human and material resources are being deployed to control the fire (…) Local and national reinforcements are expected,” the local authority of the Gironde Department said.
France, which has already been hit by a series of wildfires over the past few weeks, – like the rest of Europe – is suffering from a second heatwave in as many months.
Several wildfires broke out in the central region of Portugal as well as western Spain on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents.
The biggest of the two Gironde fires is around the town of Landiras, south of Bordeaux, where roads have been closed and 500 residents have been evacuated, with the fire already burning more than 1,000 hectares.
The other is along the Atlantic coast, close to the iconic “Dune du Pilate” – the highest sand dune in Europe – located in the Arcachon Bay region, over which heavy clouds of black smoke were seen rising in the sky.
That fire has already burned 700 hectares and helped the evacuation of 6,000 people from five nearby camps. He was brought ashore at a local exhibition centre.
“The other campers woke us up around 0430 in the morning. We had to go immediately and choose quickly what to take with us. I forgot my ID, luckily someone took it for me. But I don’t have my phone (…) and we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Christel, one of the evacuated tourists, told BFM TV.
On the eve of Bastille Day, Gironde Prefecture has banned all fireworks in towns and villages near forests until Monday, 18 July.