PARIS: Firefighters struggled on Sunday to contain wildfires raging out of control in France and Spain as Europe wilts under an unusually extreme heat wave that authorities link to a rise in excess mortality.
Two huge blazes have burned their way through pine forests for six days just south of the city of Bordeaux in southwestern France. The fires have forced the evacuation of some 14,000 people, including many who were on holiday in the area.
Firefighters in Spain were supported by the armed forces’ emergency brigades in trying to extinguish more than 30 fires consuming forests across the country.
The devastating forest fires are triggered by a summer heat wave in Europe. Parts of the continent are bracing for new temperature records early next week.
Meteo France forecast temperatures of up to 41 degrees Celsius in parts of southern France on Sunday, as well as up to 35 in the northwest, with new heat records expected on Monday.
The fire season has hit after an unusually dry, hot spring that left the soil parched and which authorities attribute to climate change.
Some 3,000 firefighters backed by water-dumping planes are battling the blazes in southern France, the president said, and Greece sent firefighting equipment to help.
Elsewhere in the country, a fire near the Atlantic coastal resort of Arcachon was contained overnight.
More than one-third of France’s administrative departments and subregions faced an “orange” alert, with residents asked to be vigilant. France’s heat wave is expected to hit its high temperature of 40 degrees Centigrade on Monday.
Across Spain, firefighters are also battling several wildfires after days of soaring temperatures hit as high as 45.7 Celsius. The Carlos III Health Institute said 360 heat-related deaths have occurred during the recent heat wave. –Agencies
