Faced with unprecedented blazes, firefighters in both countries are using a brief window of opportunity to bring the flames under control before temperatures spike. LEGE-CAP FERRET, France (AP) — French authorities ordered nearly 4,000 people evacuated Tuesday from tourist sites on the Atlantic coast as returning heat threatened firefighters’ fragile hold on a vast wildfire west of Bordeaux.The new evacuations deepened a wildfire emergency of exceptional scale across southwestern Europe. Fires in France and Spain have forced roughly 330,000 people to evacuate, while Spain entered its fourth heat wave of the summer with several blazes still out of control, including its largest on record.Firefighters had held the French blaze in check through a calm night, bringing flare-ups near coastal dunes under control and keeping the burned area unchanged at 420 square kilometers (162 square miles).Authorities described the Gironde fire as stabilized, not fixed — meaning it could still spread again as temperatures rose and humidity fell.The precautionary evacuation order covered campsites, holiday villages, tourist residences and leisure parks around the resort of Lacanau, including Lacanau Ocean and both shores of Lacanau lake, Gironde regional authorities said.“We are at a point of fragility,” Eric Brocardi, spokesperson for France’s national firefighters federation, told BFMTV on Tuesday.
“We will continue attacking this fire despite the forecast rise in temperatures.”The blaze, raging since last week, has been wildly unpredictable, transforming at times into a self-feeding firestorm as it burned through an area four times the size of Paris and forced 220,000 people to evacuate homes and vacation accommodation.Even after 24 hours without further advance, officials warned that smoldering vegetation, rising temperatures and falling humidity could produce fresh outbreaks along the vast perimeter.Firefighters and military engineers resumed work early Tuesday on tactical firebreaks designed to prevent the flames from spreading. Authorities said 103 kilometers (64 miles) of firebreaks had been completed.Ninety-three firefighters have been injured while battling the blaze, the prefecture said.The A63 highway remained partly closed, while rail traffic south of Bordeaux was suspended except on the route toward Toulouse.Thousands return as progress is made on second fireThe overnight holding action in Gironde contrasted with a clearer sign of progress in neighboring Landes, where thousands of evacuees were allowed home after a separate w… The huge fire raging in France's southwestern region of Gironde has not progressed overnight on July 28, local authorities say.
For firefighters however, the task might further complicate as the region is set to experience extreme temperatures due to a new heatwave. FRANCE 24's Carys Garland is on the ground and tells us about what's happening since the fire first broke out, and how locals are showing up to help. LEGE-CAP FERRET, France (AP) — French authorities ordered the evacuation Tuesday of nearly 4,000 people from campsites, tourist residences, holiday villages and leisure parks around Lacanau on France’s Atlantic coast as worsening weather threatened to intensify wildfire conditions.Gironde’s regional authority said the evacuations covered Lacanau Ocean and both shores of Lacanau lake.
People were told to take personal belongings, follow emergency instructions and stay away until authorities permit a return.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.LEGE-CAP FERRET, France (AP) — Firefighters kept a vast wildfire in southwest France in check overnight into Tuesday, bringing flare-ups near Atlantic coast dunes under control in a crucial reprieve before returning heat and falling humidity threaten to test their hold on the blaze.The fire remained stabilized at 6 a.m. after a calm night and the burned area was unchanged at 420 square kilometers (162 square miles), the Gironde prefecture said.The emergency now stretches across southwestern Europe.Fires in France and Spain have forced roughly 330,000 people to evacuate, while Spain entered its fourth heat wave of the summer Tuesday with several blazes still out of control, including the largest ever recorded in the country.In France, several flare-ups were detected overnight north of Le Porge and in dunes north of Cap Ferret but were brought under control by firefighters, authorities said.“We are at a point of fragility,” Eric Brocardi, spokesperson for France’s national firefighters federation, told BFMTV on Tuesday.
The fire remained stabilized rather than fixed, meaning it could still spread again.The blaze, raging since last week, has been wildly unpredictable, transforming at times into a self-feeding firestorm as it burned through an area four times the size of Paris and forced 220,000 people to evacuate homes and vacation accommodation.Even after 24 hours without further advance, officials warned that smoldering vegetation, rising temperatures and falling humidity could produce fresh outbreaks along the vast perimeter.Firef… LEGE-CAP FERRET, France (AP) — Firefighters kept a vast wildfire in southwest France in check overnight into Tuesday, bringing flare-ups near Atlantic coast dunes under control in a crucial reprieve before returning heat and falling humidity threaten to test their hold on the blaze. The fire remained stabilized at 6 a.m.
The emergency now stretches across southwestern Europe. In France, several flare-ups were detected overnight north of Le Porge and in dunes north of Cap Ferret but were brought under control by firefighters, authorities said. “We are at a point of fragility,” Eric Brocardi, spokesperson for France’s national firefighters federation, told BFMTV on Tuesday.
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