Several thousand people, both residents and holidaymakers, have been evacuated as a precaution from several villages in the south of France, where hundreds of hectares are on fire.
About 3000 campers and residents of two villages in the Aveyron, Mostuéjouls and Rivière-sur-Tarn, were evacuated as a precaution following a fire that destroyed 700 hectares. Due to the severe drought and because the fire partly rages over a rocky outcrop that is difficult to reach, the firefighters estimate that it will take another three days to extinguish the fire. Two of them suffered minor injuries.
In the Gironde, the southwestern region around Bordeaux, a fire broke out at Landiras on Tuesday, where a huge fire was already raging in July. 3,500 people were evacuated as a precaution from this forested area, where 1,000 hectares have already been destroyed. Most of the pine trees were killed. The fire brigade considers the situation ‘very unfavorable’ due to the wind and drought and expects to be busy extinguishing the fire at least all night.
In recent days, some smaller fires have also broken out in the south-east (Drôme and Isère) and west (Charente) of France.
All in all, more than 50,000 hectares have been burned in France this year. In July, the country had a record number of burned areas, according to the European Commission’s Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), which has been tracking such statistics since 2006.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss out on any of the stars.