France's biggest wildfire of the summer has eclipsed the size of Paris and is still spreading
About 2,000 firefighters and several water bomber aircraft battled the blaze that broke out Tuesday afternoon in the village of Ribaute in the Aude region, a rural, wooded area that is home to wineries.
The fire, which has burned 13,000 hectares (32,000 acres), remained ''very active'' on Wednesday, the local administration said in a statement. The weather was hot, dry and windy, making it difficult for firefighters to contain the blaze.
One person died in their home, nine others were injured, including seven firefighters, and at least one person was missing, the statement said.
Jacques Piraux, mayor of the village of Jonquières, said all residents have been evacuated.
'It's a scene of sadness and desolation," he told broadcaster BFM TV after he visited Wednesday morning. 'It looks like a lunar landscape, everything is burned. More than half or three-quarters of the village has burned down. It's hellish.'
Residents and tourists in nearby areas were requested to remain in their homes unless told to evacuate. Two campsites were evacuated as a precaution.
French Prime Minister François Bayrou was expected to visit Wednesday afternoon, his office said.
The environment ministry said the Aude region has been experiencing a drought this month, with water use restrictions in place. Lack of rainfall in recent months 'played a major role in the spreading of the fire, since the vegetation is very dry,' the statement said.
Southern Europe has seen multiple large fires this summer. Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires. Last month, a wildfire that reached the southern port of Marseille, France's second-largest city, left around 300 people injured.
Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing at twice the speed of the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Sylvie Corbet, The Associated Press
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Massive French wildfire contained but 'not under control'
French firefighters said Saturday that the country's biggest wildfire in at least half a century was contained but would not be brought under control before Sunday evening. The fire near the Mediterranean coast has ravaged a vast area of the southern Aude department at the peak of the summer tourist season, killing one person and injuring several others. "The fire is contained but ... until Sunday evening the fire will not be under control," said Christophe Magny, chief of the region's firefighter unit. Authorities warned that Sunday's forecasted hot, dry winds -- similar to those when the fire began -- and a heatwave alert with temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius would keep the some 1,400 firefighters mobilised on high alert. "The firefighters will do their utmost before the return of the tramontane" this weekend, the president of the Aude departmental council, Helene Sandragne, told AFP, referring to a northerly wind that regularly blows through the area. The blaze -- the largest in at least 50 years -- tore through 16,000 hectares of vegetation, disaster officials said, revising an earlier estimate of 17,000 hectares. About 2,000 people were evacuated, though local authorities allowed them to return home on Friday evening. In Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, a 65-year-old woman was found dead Wednesday in her home, which was devastated by flames. Authorities said one resident suffered serious burns and four others were lightly injured, while 19 firefighters were hurt, including one with a head injury. Experts say European countries are becoming ever more vulnerable to such disasters due to intensifying summer heatwaves linked to global warming. skh-ap-ekf/giv
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Firefighters battle to prevent reignition of France's largest wildfire as residents return home
PARIS (AP) — About 1,400 firefighters were deployed on Saturday in France's southern Aude region to prevent the country's largest wildfire in decades from reigniting, as all residents were allowed to return to their homes. Aude prefect Christian Pouget said the fire has been contained since Thursday after burning this week more than 160 square kilometers (62 square miles) in the wooded region, known for its wineries. All roads have been reopened but authorities issued a strict ban on accessing the forest, Pouget said at a news conference on Saturday. 'The fight is continuing, firefighters are still working on (fire) re-ignition,' he said. The blaze left one person dead and 25 people have been injured, including 19 firefighters, Pouget said. High temperatures in the coming days are expected to complicate firefighters' efforts. 'The fire won't be extinguished for several weeks,' Col. Christophe Magny, director of Aude firefighters department, said, pointing to several 'hot spots' that are being closely monitored. France's national weather agency Meteo France placed the southern half of France under 'high vigilance' alert for heat wave, with temperatures expected in the Aude region of up to 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday. Southern Europe has seen multiple large fires this summer. Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
Heat threatens to reignite blaze after France's largest wildfire in decades
Firefighters who helped contain France's largest wildfire in decades are on high alert because of forecasts of very high temperatures that could reignite the blaze in the south of the country. The fire in France's Aude wine country claimed one life and quickly spread over more than 62 square miles over three days in hot and dry weather, forcing hundreds of residents to flee their homes. Local authorities said they need to remain vigilant throughout the weekend because temperatures are expected to rise above 30C during another heatwave. Meanwhile, fires prompted evacuations elsewhere in the Mediterranean region, with authorities ordering evacuations near the Greek capital and in northern Turkey, where officials also had to temporarily suspend maritime traffic through the Dardanelles due to the smoke. In France, Aude administrator Christian Pouget said 1,000 people had not yet been able to return to their homes after the fire swept through 15 communes in the Corbieres mountain region, destroying or damaging at least 36 homes. One person died at home and at least 21 others were injured, including 16 firefighters, according to local authorities. Some 1,300 homes were still without electricity on Friday morning after infrastructure was extensively damaged, the Aude prefecture said. Residents have been warned not to return home without authorisation, as many roads remain blocked and dangerous. Those forced to flee have been housed in emergency shelters across 17 municipalities. Many fled to the community of Tuchan when the fire started on Tuesday, its mayor Beatrice Bertrand told the Associated Press. 'We have received and hosted over 200 people. We gave them food, thanks to local businesses who opened their stores despite it being very late,' Ms Bertrand said. 'Civil Protection brought us beds. And also the local villagers offered their homes to welcome them. It was their first night here and many were shocked and scared.' An investigation is under way to determine what sparked the fire. Authorities said the fire was the largest recorded since France's national fire database was created in 2006, but the minister for ecological transition, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, went further, calling the blaze the worst since 1949 and linking it to climate change. The Mediterranean basin has seen multiple large fires this summer. Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires. Last month, a wildfire that reached the southern port of Marseille, France's second-largest city, injured around 300 people. Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing at twice the speed of the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service. In Greece, a fast-moving wildfire on Friday forced a series of evacuations south east of Athens, approaching residential areas as firefighters battled strong winds. The blaze advanced over scrub-covered hillsides in the Keratea region, spreading through an area with scattered homes 25 miles from the capital. Firefighting planes and helicopters swooped over the flames that sent thick black clouds of smokes toward coastal areas. Authorities deployed 190 firefighters supported by volunteers, and police blocked traffic in the area to allow fire engines through. Strong winds disrupted ferry services at ports around Athens. A wildfire fuelled by strong winds in north-west Turkey prompted authorities to evacuate a university campus and an elderly care home and to suspend some maritime traffic on Friday, reports said. The flow of ships through the Dardanelles Strait was temporarily halted due to heavy smoke and reduced visibility in the narrow waterway. The fire broke out at an agricultural field near Saricaeli village, in Canakkale province, before spreading rapidly into a nearby forested area. With the flames approaching dangerously close to the care home and a campus of Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, both facilities were evacuated as a precaution, the Cumhuriyet newspaper and other media reported. Footage aired by Haberturk TV showed a fire engine being engulfed in flames, forcing firefighters to flee.
