More than 10,000 people were evacuated overnight in southwestern France as a rapidly spreading wildfire scorched 2,000 hectares of land west of the city of Bordeaux, officials said on Thursday.
Wildfires have burnt more land in Europe already this year than the annual average over the past two decades, data shows, as the world’s fastest-warming continent has endured three stifling, virtually back-to-back heatwaves so far this year.
Five hundred firefighters are battling to control the blaze, the prefecture said. Two firefighters died on Tuesday tackling a blaze that broke out near Bordeaux airport.
France's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez met the firefighters' families on Wednesday, as unions warned workers were facing "exhaustion" and a lack of resources.
"We're dealing with a very dense stand of closely packed pines," firefighter Captain Wilfried Schneider said, describing a fire of "rare" intensity.
The wildfire is located near the Arcachon Bay area, a tourist hotspot, and many of those evacuated are tourists staying at campsites. The prefecture said no one has been injured so far.
The fires come as southern Europe endures another spell of severe heat, with temperatures topping 40°C in some areas.
The continent, which is the world's fastest-warming, has endured three stifling almost back-to-back heatwaves so far this year. Intense heat has also been blamed for thousands of excess deaths in the May to June period.
Scientists agree that human-driven climate crisis is increasing the intensity of heatwaves, droughts and wildfires, while also creating conditions for sudden, destructive storms.
