Southwestern France Wildfire Drives 44,000 Evacuations as 12,500 Hectares Burn in 80 km/h Winds
Updated
Updated · FRANCE 24 English · Jul 24
Southwestern France Wildfire Drives 44,000 Evacuations as 12,500 Hectares Burn in 80 km/h Winds
3 articles · Updated · FRANCE 24 English · Jul 24
Summary
At least 44,000 people were evacuated from France’s Gironde department over two days as a wildfire north of Arcachon Bay destroyed more than 12,500 hectares of forest.
Wind gusts of up to 80 km/h and the risk of dry thunderstorms kept conditions unfavorable Friday, helping the blaze spread and complicating containment efforts.
The latest toll marks a worsening from earlier reports of about 40,000 evacuations and 10,000 hectares burned in southwestern France, where 53 houses had already been destroyed.
Across the border, Spain declared a national emergency as fires near Madrid and in Avila forced more than 10,000 evacuations, with some blazes merging under the same heat and wind pattern.
With climate change fueling unstoppable mega-fires across Europe, are coastal tourist havens like Cap Ferret becoming too dangerous for summer habitation?
As 10-meter flames trap thousands on a French peninsula, can the EU emergency fleet arrive in time to avert a historic tragedy?
After losing firefighters to unpredictable blazes, how will overwhelmed European nations adapt their strategies to fight these increasingly apocalyptic firestorms?