Strong winds and hot, dry weather thwarted French firefighters’ efforts on Saturday to contain a huge forest fire that swept through the pine forests of the Bordeaux region for the fifth day in a row, one of several wildfires that have burned Europe this year. week.
Among the worst fires have been in Portugal, where the pilot of a firefighting plane died Friday when his plane crashed during an operation in the northeast. It was the first deadly fire in Portugal this year, but the flames have injured more than 160 this week and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people.
The fire season has affected parts of Europe earlier than usual this year after a hot and unusually dry spring that left the ground dry and which authorities attribute to climate change.
A fire truck from the Gironde region spraying liquid on a forest fire in France. (AP)
As the worst French fire approached inhabited cities, some of the 11,000 people who evacuated to the region described the fear and uncertainty about what they would encounter when they returned home. Images shared by firefighters showed flames firing on a mass of pines and black smoke spread across the horizon.
Firefighters focused efforts Saturday on using fire trucks to surround at-risk villages and save as many homes as possible, reporters Charles Lafourcade, who oversaw the French firefighting operation, told reporters.
Some 3,000 firefighters backed by water jet planes are battling the flames in southern France, the president said, and Greece has sent firefighting equipment to help.
French firefighters managed to contain one of the worst fires during the night, near the tourist resort of Arcachon, on the Atlantic coast, popular with tourists, the regional emergency service said on Saturday. But he said “harsh weather conditions” thwarted efforts to contain the region’s largest fire, which started in the town of Landiras, south of a valley of Bordeaux vineyards. Regional prosecutors suspect fire.
The two fires have burned at least 9,650 hectares (23,800 acres) in recent days.
In Portugal, more than 1,000 firefighters worked on Saturday alongside desperate ordinary citizens to save their homes after a long week of fighting several fires across the country. The fires have been fueled by extreme temperatures and drought conditions earlier than usual.
Thousands of firefighters from Portugal have been fighting fires across the country. (AP) Several hundred firefighters fought Friday to contain two wildfires in the Bordeaux region of southwestern France. (AP)
Portuguese state television RTP reported on Friday that the area burned this year – more than 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) – has already exceeded the total of 2021. Most burned last week.
On the other side of the border, Spain was fighting to contain several fires, including two that have burned about 7,400 hectares (18,200 acres).
In southern Andalusia, 3,000 people were evacuated from villages in danger of a fire that started near the town of Mijas, in the province of Malaga. About 200 firefighters backed by 18 planes tried to contain the fire. Authorities were investigating his cause.
For the sixth day, firefighters were also trying to control a fire started by lightning in the midwestern area of Las Hurdes. Some 400 people from eight villages were evacuated on Friday as flames approached their homes and threatened to spread to nearby Monfrague National Park.
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Croatia and Hungary have also fought wildfires this week, as have California and Morocco.
Many European countries are facing exceptional heat this month also attributed to climate change.
Temperature-related deaths have risen in Spain this week amid a heat wave that has kept highs above 40 degrees Celsius in many areas. According to the Carlos III Institute of Spain, which records daily temperature-related fatalities, 237 deaths were attributed to high temperatures from 10 to 14 July. This compared to 25 temperature-related deaths the previous week.
Portuguese authorities said on Wednesday that a July national record high of 47 degrees Celsius affected the northern city of Pinhao on Wednesday.
The British Met Office’s weather agency has issued its first “red warning” of extreme heat for Monday and Tuesday, when temperatures in the south of England could reach 40 ºC for the first time.
The British government held an emergency meeting on Saturday to plan for high temperatures. People in the UK have already been warned not to travel unless absolutely necessary and schools and nursing homes have been told to take extra precautions.
Forest fires are being fought across Europe. (AP)
“All the heat waves studied so far in Europe are heating up,” said Robert Vautard, of the Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute at the Sorbonne University. “As long as greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced to zero, heat waves will continue to intensify, increasing. Frequent and lasting longer.”
In Turkey, the scene of devastating forest fires last summer, local media reported fires in the western province of Izmir and Hatay, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Syrian border. Helicopters, planes and hundreds of firefighters faced the fire.
Fires fueled by strong winds and scorching temperatures last year devastated the Mediterranean and Aegean regions of Turkey, killing at least eight people and provoking fierce criticism of the government for its inadequate preparedness and response.