Firefighters from seven countries help fight a major forest fire in southwestern France in the Gironde department, south of Bordeaux. Germany, Poland, Greece, Romania and Austria have offered assistance. Sweden and Italy have already helped.
At the request of France, the European Union has now sent four fire-fighting aircraft from Greece and Sweden to the country.
France has been struggling with persistent forest fires in several regions for weeks. The fire in Gironde has already destroyed more than 6,800 hectares of forest. More than 10,000 people have been evacuated as a precaution. Seventeen houses have been destroyed by the fire.
On Wednesday evening, the fire continued to spread, including to the adjacent Landes department.
German colleagues come to the rescue
Firefighters from Germany went to France on Thursday to help put out wildfires in the country.
At 3.30 am, fire trucks from the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, bordering the Netherlands, left for southwestern France. It concerns 20 vehicles and 65 firefighters. The Germans are expected to start extinguishing the fire on Thursday evening.
It is the second time that German firefighters help another European country after a request via the European Union. In 2019, Germans helped on the Greek island of Peloponnese.
The local authorities spoke at a press conference on Wednesday evening of a “zealous fight” against the fire, which the fire service “continues to surprise”. “It is as if we are dealing here with a monster that has brains and behaves tactically,” a spokesperson told the French daily. Sud Ouest about the fire.
A fire truck in action during the forest fire in Gironde.
A fire truck in action during the forest fire in Gironde. Photo: EPA
No civilians injured yet, but firefighters are
No civilian was injured in the fire. The authorities insist that “saving human lives is a priority”.
Several firefighters were injured while fighting the fire. One of them is in serious condition, “with burns on the legs and on the face”. Two fire trucks went up in flames, French newspaper writes Le Monde.
France suspects arson
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin believes the fire in Gironde may have been started. He even suspects that nine out of ten wildfires are (un)consciously caused by people.
A huge forest fire also raged in the area in July. Then 21,000 hectares of forest burned and nearly 37,000 people had to be evacuated.
Since Wednesday, the forest fire has also closed the A63 motorway, an important car route from Bordeaux to the Spanish border at Hendaye.
An estimated 3,000 campers and residents of villages north of Montpellier had to leave the area on Wednesday as a precaution. It was feared that a fire, which had already destroyed 700 hectares there, would spread even further.
The French fire brigade will receive help from German colleagues from Thursday.
The French fire brigade will receive help from German colleagues from Thursday. Photo: EPA