In fighting the great forest fire near Bordeaux in southwest France, firefighters reported a first success.
The fire in the departments of Gironde and Landes did not spread much overnight, Arcachon’s chief administrator Ronan Léaustic said on Friday. Faced with the great heat and drought, the fire department faces another difficult day. In addition, “extreme vigilance” is required.
Huge pine forest destroyed
The 40-kilometer fire front has already destroyed 7,400 hectares of pine forest since Tuesday. 10,000 people had to be brought to safety, some of them for the second time. The fire is a fire that has been kindled again and had already spread by mid-July. From Thursday to Friday there were no more evacuations, as Léaustic said.
support from other countries
France’s 1,100 firefighters are now supported by more than 360 firefighters from other European countries. According to French authorities, 65 firefighters from Germany with 24 vehicles arrived in the area of the forest fire on Thursday night. More support came from Romania, Poland and Austria. Greece and Italy are helping with firefighting planes.
The French government has asked other countries for help with the forest fires across the EU. Due to extreme drought and historically low rainfall, large forest fires are currently raging in several regions of France. The peak of this summer’s third heat wave is expected in France on Friday with temperatures of 38 to 41 degrees. In the region around Bordeaux, with maximum temperatures of 37 degrees, it was not as hot as in previous days.
Fire in the National Park
In central Portugal, a fire broke out on Saturday in the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, which has since destroyed 10,000 hectares of forest. “There is still an active fire front that worries us,” Miguel Cruz, of civil defense, said on Friday. Elsewhere, the fire is already better controlled. The fire brigade is on duty with more than 1,500 firefighters and more than a dozen firefighting planes and helicopters.