France battles 'unprecedented' wildfires: Bordeaux mayor warns flames just 15 km away
The mayor of Bordeaux has said he is preparing for "all eventualities" as one of many wildfires raging in France is now just 15 km (nine miles) from the south-western city. Thomas Cazenave stated, "We are preparing to accommodate a large number of people should further evacuations be ordered."
Firefighters in the Gironde region are facing an "unprecedented" situation battling a fire that "has a life of its own," according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. The fires have already forced the evacuation of approximately 220,000 people in France and over 100,000 in Spain, where blazes are burning "uncontrolled" west of Madrid.
Another intense heatwave on Tuesday is expected to further hamper firefighting efforts. Jerome Steffe, the mayor of Cestas, a town south of Bordeaux, described the blaze as "the fire of the century." He reported that 17,000 residents were evacuated from his town when the fire swelled two days ago. So far, the region has seen 42,000 hectares (103,000 acres) of land burned and 240 houses destroyed.
"In my city the situation is really catastrophic," Steffe added. Although the fire is no longer moving as quickly, he said his teams have "won only a small battle" and emphasised that the risk remains from flying embers or a sudden change in wind direction. "We put all our energy into creating protective firebreaks," he explained, but admitted "we are all scared in front of this situation."
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has warned that the country "is going through an unprecedented fire season." In a social media post on Monday, Lecornu wrote that 116,085 hectares (286,852 acres) have already burned and 13,566 fire starts have been recorded since January. He revealed that nine out of 10 fires "are human-caused and most arise from carelessness: a cigarette butt, a barbecue, work carried out without precaution." He also noted that "not all these fires are accidents" and "some are deliberately set," adding that 162 arrests have been made since 6 July.
President Emmanuel Macron is visiting some of the fire-ravaged areas in Gironde to show support for firefighters and other teams responding to the blazes. Wildfires are also burning in several other French regions, including Var and Landes, and also in Haute-Corse on the island of Corsica.
