Wildfires fuelled by extreme heat and strong winds swept across western Europe on Friday, forcing French authorities to order the total evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula tourism hotspot. The blazes also triggered a state of emergency in Spain's Madrid region and prompted Paris to seek emergency assistance from the European Union.
Wildfires fanned by scorching temperatures and strong winds swept through parts of western Europe on Friday, triggering a state of emergency in Spain's Madrid region and prompting France to seek help from the European Union.
French authorities ordered the total evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula, a tourism hotspot on the Atlantic Coast, sending boats to remove people from an area threatened by a major wildfire.
The order for a total evacuation of the area, which is home to many valuable properties and is currently full of tourists enjoying their summer vacations in camp sites and rental homes, underlined the fire's severity.
Sophie Brocas, the prefect for the Nouvelle Aquitaine region, said on Friday that evacuees from the Cap Ferret peninsula could leave from piers in four villages in the area between 7am and 10am local time (0500 GMT and 0800 GMT).
All those still present in those villages must leave either on the boats or by the only road linking the area with the mainland, she added.
The fire has already devastated 8,700 hectares and is still raging.
The total area of land burnt so far this year in EU countries is the second largest on record, according to satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
Three firefighters have been killed as southern Europe endures more severe heat, with temperatures topping 40°C in some areas.
France has invoked the European Union's civil protection mechanism to ask for help, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, warning that the crisis remained "very intense".
EU crisis management commissioner Hadja Lahbib said on Thursday that the bloc was providing three water-bombing aircraft to France.
Patrick Martineau, a 69-year-old resident of Le Porge, south of Bordeaux, said: "The gendarmes came and knocked on every door, the fire was about 500 metres away – we grabbed some things and left."
France's south-east was also being hard hit, with dozens of fires flaring up and being fanned by the mistral wind around the historic village of Cotignac, with officials saying around 25 houses had been destroyed since Tuesday.
Thousands of emergency workers in Italy battled scores of fires in Sicily and the Calabria region, where a local official said arsonists had started fires by tying rags soaked in flammable liquid to the tails of stray cats to spread the flames.
One firefighter died after falling ill while battling the flames in Sicily, the interior minister said.
Around Bordeaux, more than 20,000 people – mostly tourists staying in campsites and holiday lets – have been evacuated since Wednesday as a fire ravaged a seaside pine forest.
The authorities said the fire had been contained on its northern flank but was not yet fully under control further south.
Two firefighters died on Tuesday tackling another blaze near Bordeaux Airport.
'No chance'
Skies over Le Porge turned orange as smoke rose from charred and crackling pine trees, while helicopters made repeated runs over deserted neighbourhoods.
Fires in 2022 damaged a vast area of the same forest, forcing around 50,000 people to flee.
The blazes are breaking out faster because of climate change caused by the burning of oil, coal and gas. European droughts are now more severe, climatologists from the World Weather Attribution group said in a study published on Thursday.
In Spain, the government declared a state of emergency in the Madrid region, where more than 10,000 people have been evacuated in recent days.
Emergency services said alert messages had been sent to people in Aldea del Fresno, a town west of Madrid, ordering them to leave.
Eighteen firefighting units with specialist crews were working to contain the blaze, close to another wildfire near the city of Toledo on Wednesday that forced the evacuation of several villages.
Firefighters battled through the night and most residents were allowed to return on Thursday.
Hundreds of firefighters and troops were still struggling to contain a much larger wildfire in Guadalajara province, north of Madrid.
"Climate change is what kills, what destroys our villages and our natural and cultural heritage," civil protection chief Virginia Barcones told Spanish radio.
She warned some fires become so intense that, despite the deployment of aircraft and ground crews, firefighters stand "no chance".
Barcones said conditions at the Guadalajara blaze were improving but that strong winds and extreme heat remained a danger.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
