PARIS — Firefighters were battling several wildfires fanned by strong winds in southern France on Thursday, as the country grappled with parched conditions following Europe’s recent heatwave.Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said three blazes, two of which broke out on the western edge of the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, had scorched a combined area of 1,210 hectares (12,100,000 square meters).The World Meteorological Organization last week warned that the record temperatures that baked Western Europe for over a week in late June would worsen the risk of wildfires, given the outlook for sustained high temperatures, very low humidity and dry vegetation.French emergency authorities said that hundreds of firefighters were deployed to battle the fire in the Herault and Aude departments on Wednesday, while firefighting aircraft were mobilized due to the difficulty of accessing the affected areas in the region’s rugged terrain.According to the Aude department administration, the fire had burned around 800 hectares of land by the evening. Authorities said the blaze had been contained in some areas but had not yet been brought fully under control.Temperatures reaching approximately 30 degrees Celsius, along with strong winds and extremely dry vegetation, contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.Meanwhile, firefighters were tamping down a small blaze in Rognac near Marseille’s airport and had brought under control another nearby fire covering 260 hectares in Lancon-Provence. There were no casualties, local officials said.An acrid smell of smoke hung over the area and pilots on at least one flight landing at the city reassured passengers the smell was not coming from their aircraft, a Reuters witness said.Further east, in Frejus, a resort town in the Var department some 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Cannes, more than 2,000 people were evacuated from six campsites on Wednesday because of a nearby forest fire.Authorities announced the evacuation of a number of residents, while others were instructed to remain indoors for their safety, bringing the total number of people affected by the emergency measures to about 200 in the towns of Pouzols-Minervois and Mailhac.These fires come a year after major wildfires swept through the Corbieres region and follow a severe heatwave that affected large parts of Europe, amid forecasts of continued high temperatures in the coming days.France’s weather office has warned that another spell of extreme heat could hit next week. Health authorities estimate the previous heatwave may have caused around 1,000 excess deaths in the country during record-breaking temperatures.PARIS — Firefighters were battling several wildfires fanned by strong winds in southern France on Thursday, as the country grappled with parched conditions following Europe’s recent heatwave.Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said three blazes, two of which broke out on the western edge of the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, had scorched a combined area of 1,210 hectares (12,100,000 square meters).The World Meteorological Organization last week warned that the record temperatures that baked Western Europe for over a week in late June would worsen the risk of wildfires, given the outlook for sustained high temperatures, very low humidity and dry vegetation.French emergency authorities said that hundreds of firefighters were deployed to battle the fire in the Herault and Aude departments on Wednesday, while firefighting aircraft were mobilized due to the difficulty of accessing the affected areas in the region’s rugged terrain.According to the Aude department administration, the fire had burned around 800 hectares of land by the evening. Authorities said the blaze had been contained in some areas but had not yet been brought fully under control.Temperatures reaching approximately 30 degrees Celsius, along with strong winds and extremely dry vegetation, contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.Meanwhile, firefighters were tamping down a small blaze in Rognac near Marseille’s airport and had brought under control another nearby fire covering 260 hectares in Lancon-Provence. There were no casualties, local officials said.An acrid smell of smoke hung over the area and pilots on at least one flight landing at the city reassured passengers the smell was not coming from their aircraft, a Reuters witness said.Further east, in Frejus, a resort town in the Var department some 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Cannes, more than 2,000 people were evacuated from six campsites on Wednesday because of a nearby forest fire.Authorities announced the evacuation of a number of residents, while others were instructed to remain indoors for their safety, bringing the total number of people affected by the emergency measures to about 200 in the towns of Pouzols-Minervois and Mailhac.These fires come a year after major wildfires swept through the Corbieres region and follow a severe heatwave that affected large parts of Europe, amid forecasts of continued high temperatures in the coming days.France’s weather office has warned that another spell of extreme heat could hit next week. Health authorities estimate the previous heatwave may have caused around 1,000 excess deaths in the country during record-breaking temperatures.
Major wildfire forces evacuations in southern France
