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Wildfires near Bordeaux and Madrid force mass evacuations as a new heatwave arrives

9 sources

Fires in the French Gironde and in the Spanish province of Ávila have burned tens of thousands of hectares and driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and holiday sites. A fourth heatwave of the summer, with temperatures above 40 degrees, is forecast to reach both countries from Wednesday. Protective measures have been deployed around Seveso-classified industrial sites in the Gironde, while EU member states have sent firefighting aircraft to both countries.

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Southern Europe wildfires

What happened

A fire that broke out in the Gironde on 22 July has destroyed 42,000 hectares of forest west of Bordeaux, a fire commander of the department told Le Monde. French authorities evacuated the entire Arcachon peninsula between Lège and Cap Ferret in the night from Friday to Saturday, and the village of Le Porge burned in large parts, according to the FAZ, which puts the French total at more than 200,000 people evacuated. On Tuesday the authorities ordered nearly 4,000 more people out of campsites and holiday villages around Lège-Cap Ferret. In Spain, the fire in Ávila west of Madrid has burned 50,000 hectares, the country's largest on record, and a woman injured in an Almería fire this month died in a Seville hospital, raising that blaze's toll to 14. The Guardian counts roughly 330,000 people evacuated in France, Spain and Italy over the past week; the EU satellite service Effis records more than 207,000 hectares burned in Spain since January.

The view from outside

Outlets outside the two burning countries focus on the machinery and the costs. The FAZ notes that France owns twelve Canadair 415 water bombers and that only about seven are currently operational, each crew dropping up to 600,000 litres a day. The Financial Times reports rare fire thunderstorms over France that firefighters call unpredictable and extremely dangerous, and the New York Times examines the smoke reaching Bordeaux vineyards. The Guardian gives space to UN climate chief Simon Stiell, who said the costs of the climate crisis are reaching national emergency levels.

What could happen next

Spain's interior ministry lifted evacuation orders for 15 municipalities on Tuesday, and fires in the Landes and the Écrins massif are contained, while one in the Var has not been fully brought under control. Firefighters in the Gironde fear a flare-up on the north-western flank towards Lacanau once wind and heat return from Wednesday. Le Monde identified at least seven of the department's 35 Seveso sites within 20 kilometres of the fire or inside evacuated towns, among them the ArianeGroup and Roxel pyrotechnic complex at Saint-Médard-en-Jalles and an ammonium perchlorate store at Sainte-Hélène. Pedro Sánchez again asked the opposition to sign his state pact on the climate emergency, which the Spanish right rejects, while EU officials say fires in the region could still be burning into early November.

Worth reading

Sources

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