A massive fire that has ravaged swaths of southwestern France has been nearly extinguished, however firefighters face another “difficult” day, local authorities warned on Friday.
The 40-kilometer active fire front between the Gironde and Landes districts around Bordeaux “has not developed,” deputy prefect Ronan Leaustic told reporters, “but the weather conditions are pushing us to great vigilance.”
He noted that no further evacuations had been requested in addition to the 10,000 persons who had previously been forced to depart.
“Today is likely to be tough,” Leaustic added, “since temperatures continue to increase and the water table continues to plummet.”On Thursday, 361 colleagues from European neighbours including Germany, Poland, Austria, and Romania joined the nearly 1,100 French firemen on the ground, and several water-bombing planes from the European Union fleet.
The dense smoke visible on Thursday had taken a back seat to blue skies and intermittent clouds in the hard-hit area near the village of Hostens by Friday morning.
This summer, France has been buffeted by a historic drought that has forced water consumption limits across the country, as well as a series of heatwaves caused by climate change, according to experts.
The fire near Bordeaux erupted in July, the driest month in France since 1961, scorching 14,000 hectares & forcing thousands of residents to flee before it was brought under control.
