Carcassonne (dpa -Afx) – In the middle of persistent heat, larger forest fires are sparked in southern France – possibly because of a grill. Part of the A61 motorway was closed, the campsite in Bizanet was cleared, as the local prefecture based in Carcassonne announced. A total of seven fires were triggered because a person transported a grill in a trailer in which there was not yet expired embers, said Prefect Christian Pouget in the BFMTV broadcaster. The embers were flown out along the street.
In the small community of Bizanet alone, more than 150 firefighters fought against the flames. According to civil protection, extinguishing helicopters were also used. The fires were 400 hectares of land, as Pouget said. It is still unclear whether the fire were accidentally created or caused on purpose.
According to experts, it is difficult to demonstrate a direct connection between climate change and individual forest fires. One thing is certain: there are more hot days due to climate change. Heat alone does not trigger any forest fires. But high temperatures, drought, low humidity and wind can increase the risk of forest fires. In southern Europe, the north of Eurasia, in the USA and Australia, the likelihood of fires and the burned areas have increased because of climate change ./rbo/dp/zb