France Recovers 400 WWII Shells in Le Porge After Record 160,000-Hectare Wildfires
Updated
Updated · CNN · Aug 4
France Recovers 400 WWII Shells in Le Porge After Record 160,000-Hectare Wildfires
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Aug 4
Summary
Civil Protection teams recovered more than 400 World War II shells and munitions in Le Porge on Monday after residents were cleared to return to the Gironde village.
Heat from July’s wildfire set off buried ammunition, with officials saying earlier explosions revealed the field and prompted an exclusion zone because lethal fragments could travel several hundred meters.
Le Porge’s 3,500 residents had largely fled as the blaze advanced, and photos on Monday showed people returning to charred homes after a safety assessment; nearby coastal fires remain contained.
More than 160,000 hectares have burned in France’s largest wildfires on record, part of a wider European heat crisis that is exposing wartime relics and straining infrastructure from Greece and Italy to Hungary.