Mass holiday evacuations as France battles raging wildfires

Firefighters in France were battling two ferocious wildfires with nearly 1,400 hectares of forest razed in the south-western Gironde department on the Atlantic coast near Bordeaux.

Hundreds of firefighters are battling fires aggravated by the dryness of pine forests and unstable winds in France's Gironde department. AFP - PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA

Five camp sites and more than 6,200 campers were evacuated around the Dune du Pilat early Wednesday after wind conditions shifted during the night. 

“The area gets easily congested and given the high temperatures, it was preferable to evacuate overnight rather than during the day,” Lieutenant Colonel David Annotel of the National Federation of Firemen told BFMTV.

Parched ground, the result of drought, contributed to unfavourable weather conditions that saw the blaze rapidly spread.

🔥🌲 #FeuxdeForêt sur La Teste-de-Buch et Landiras : à la tombée de la nuit, les 2 #Dash et les 2 #Canadair engagés ont effectué près de 50 largages. 320 sapeurs-pompiers restent mobilisés cette nuit pour faire face aux flammes. Une colonne de renfort est attendue demain matin. pic.twitter.com/RyVGmXApLt

— Sécurité Civile (@SecCivileFrance) July 12, 2022

'No inhabitants left'

Elsewhere in Gironde, more than 500 people were evacuated in Landiras and Guillos as flames moved closer to the towns.

“There are no inhabitants left,” said Guillos Mayor Mylène Doreau. “It was stunning to see fire at the level of the houses … Everyone has cats, dogs, chickens and they want to save everything.”

Gironde was placed on amber alert – a heatwave emergency rating – on Wednesday by the department prefect.

Meanwhile firefighters in Spain and Portugal were also battling wildfires as Western Europe endures its second heatwave in weeks.

Tipped to last up to 10 days, the extreme weather follows warnings of “hotter and hotter" summers that forecaster Météo France says are becoming the norm as a result of global warming.

Read also:

• French towns ditch Bastille Day fireworks as another heatwave hits
• French government rolls out financial aid for farmers hit by drought