
Massive wildfire in southern France leaves at least one dead
The fire erupted in the Aude region on Tuesday. More than 16,000 hectares had reportedly burned as of early Wednesday evening.
About 500 firefighting vehicles are working to contain the blaze, but it continues to spread.
Footage released by Reuters news agency shows aircraft spraying water as smoke covers the mountains.
French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou toured the scene on Wednesday. He described the disaster as being on an "unprecedented scale."
He suggested it is linked to drought caused by climate change.
France has had a number of wildfires this year.
Last month, a huge blaze on the outskirts of the southern city of Marseilles left 300 people injured.
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With climate change increasing the odds of extreme fire weather, it could mean more seasons of flames and smoke ahead. But there are ways to reduce forests' flammability. What's happening with the fires right now? As of Friday, 718 active fires are burning across Canada, nearly 500 of which are out of control. Wildfire activity kicked off in Canada's prairie provinces in May with Saskatchewan and Manitoba declaring emergencies. Major fires also broke out in the western provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, with one blaze in the oil sands region temporarily curtailing about 350,000 barrels a day of oil production. Since then, fires have spread across the country, burning as far east as Newfoundland. In 2023, fires in provinces including Quebec were the source of much of the smoke that blanketed the eastern U.S.. Now, fires in the Canadian prairies are the source of much of the smoke drifting into the U.S. Midwest. 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