PARIS (AP) — A thousand firefighters with 10 water-dumping planes struggled Friday to contain two wildfires in the Bordeaux region of southwest France that have forced the evacuation of 10,000 people and ravaged pine forests near the Atlantic coast.
High temperatures and strong winds have complicated firefighting efforts in the region, one of several around Europe scorched by wildfires this season. No victims have been reported so far in the French fires, though some homes and cars have been damaged.
One of the French fires is in woodlands just south of the Atlantic resort town of Arcachon, a major attraction for visitors from around France and beyond during the summer season. The other is in parkland not far from valleys dotted with vineyards that have struggled with hotter, drier weather than usual this year that authorities link to climate change.
More than 7,000 hectares of land have been consumed by the fires, according to the regional emergency service. As the fires stretched into a fourth day Friday, one of the fires was partially contained, it said, but warned that hotter temperatures and winds coming from inland over the weekend could further complicate the efforts.
Some of the firefighting planes and equipment that were supposed to be displayed in Thursday’s Bastille Day parade in Paris was diverted for use on the Bordeaux region fires. Wildfires also broke out in southeast France and north of Paris.
Portugal has been particularly hard hit by wildfires this week. More than 3,000 firefighters battled this week alongside ordinary Portuguese citizens desperate to save their homes from several wildfires that raged across the country, fanned by extreme temperatures and drought conditions.
Portuguese state television RTP reported Friday that the area burned this year has already exceeded the total for 2021. More than 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of land has been burned, it said, most in the past week.