More than 20,000 people evacuated from Bay of Arcachon as heatwaves sweep Europe
Updated ,first published
London: More than 20,000 people are fleeing a wildfire in southern France after flames spread rapidly through a bayside area busy with families on school holidays, in the latest emergency of a European summer marked by intense heat and dry conditions.
French authorities said more than 700 firefighters were trying to contain the blaze around the Bay of Arcachon, west of Bordeaux, as they asked families at beachside campsites to leave overnight to avoid being trapped by the flames.
Wildfires have also spread in Spain and Italy after the heatwaves of the northern summer, while a fire also spread in a district south of Paris, blamed on arsonists who lit the flames in the Fontainebleau forest near the capital.
The emergencies highlight the ongoing threat from the intense heat, when the French public health agency has estimated an “excess mortality” of 5764 deaths between June 17 and July 2, as temperatures soared above 30 degrees.
The death toll remains below the statistics reported during a similar heatwave in 2003, although the estimate is yet to reflect the impact over the full summer.
French authorities have ordered the evacuation of about 12,000 people from the area around the Bay of Arcachon, while another 8800 are being moved as a precaution.
French President Emmanuel Macron said two firefighters lost their lives while responding to a fire in Mérignac, also in the Gironde region.
“I extend to their families, to their loved ones, and to the firefighters of France the condolences, the gratitude, and the support of the nation,” he said.
Lège is the only one of the peninsula’s 11 villages currently threatened by the fire, but Gonneville said authorities had evacuated 5200 people overnight. He said access was completely closed, and contingency plans were in place to evacuate the entire peninsula by both road and sea if necessary.
The fire later reached the edge of Lège, forcing the evacuation of several campgrounds and neighbourhoods close to the forest.
In neighbouring Spain, authorities were still working to put out fires that have raged for several days, while in Italy, a 59-year-old firefighter died after falling ill while battling a large wildfire near San Cataldo in Sicily.
Train traffic on Spain’s Madrid-Barcelona high-speed rail line resumed on Thursday after a wildfire near the tracks prompted the suspension of services between Mejorada del Campo and Alcalá de Henares, east of Madrid.
Europe is bearing the brunt of a rapidly warming climate, with temperatures rising more than twice as fast as the global average.
In Italy, arsonists were reported to have tied rags to the tails of cats and set them alight, causing wildfires.
Investigators also found candles and delayed ignition devices in the aftermath of the fire, according to the London Telegraph. The blaze spread through the Pollino national park in Calabria in southern Italy this week.
“These animals were released into the fields, running around and spreading the fire,” said Domenico Costarella, of Calabria’s civil protection agency.
The Reuters Climate Monitor, an interactive tool tracking weather patterns, showed that the average high across Western Europe is forecast to be 26.5 degrees on Thursday, 2.9 degrees above the normal high for July 23 over the period from 1961 to 1990.
With Reuters
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David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
