Southern Europe burns as 3 firefighters die; France battles blaze 4 times the size of Paris

Blazes rage across southern Europe as firefighters battle deadly conditions

An uncontained wildfire four times the size of Paris threatened to surge again in southwest France, as three firefighters died in Greece and crews across southern Europe confronted a punishing mix of heat, drought and strong winds, according to multiple reports.

The deaths in Crete brought a fatal new dimension to a wildfire emergency stretching from the Atlantic coast to the eastern Mediterranean, as reported by ABC Australia and The Hindu. At the peak of the evacuations, about a third of a million people were driven from homes and vacation sites in France and Spain, they reported.

In France's Gironde region, authorities said the blaze had not spread during a calm night, but temperatures forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius and strengthening afternoon winds threatened to turn that respite into only a brief reprieve.

Death toll and damage mount

The confirmed fatalities occurred in Greece, where three firefighters died while battling a wildfire, according to The Hindu and ABC Australia. France 24 — English reported that France's largest wildfire in more than 70 years remained contained but not under control in the southwest.

The fire in the Gironde has burned 42,000 hectares of land, an area larger than Detroit, and destroyed around 240 homes along the Atlantic coastline near Bordeaux, according to France 24 — English. The same outlet also reported that George Clooney's family evacuated their home in France due to the wildfires.

The South China Morning Post and ABC Australia reported that the uncontained blaze in southwest France was four times the size of Paris and threatened to surge again as temperatures were forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius.

Firefighting efforts and civilian mobilization

More than 2,200 firefighters and over 20 aircraft remained mobilised, backed by crews from across France and European partners, according to the South China Morning Post and ABC Australia.

At the command centre in Lège, firefighters bent over maps spread across a car bonnet, tracking three danger zones: northern Cap-Ferret; the wooded corridor around Marcheprime, Cestas and Saint-Jean-d'Illac; and a military site near Martignas, where a major outbreak forced a large deployment, reported ABC Australia and the South China Morning Post.

"We strike quickly and strike hard at any new smoke emissions," Gironde fire commander Matthieu Jomain was quoted as saying by ABC Australia and the South China Morning Post.

According to the same sources, civilians joined the effort, with volunteers flooding the edges of dirt tracks while a local digger driver plowed through still-burning soil, trying to keep flames from crossing back. In Lacanau, residents pumped water from a lake into tanks headed for hot spots and firefighters' cisterns.

The landscape was so combustible that investigators believe routine brush-clearing work near a high-voltage line may have sparked the inferno, even though the work appeared to comply with regulations, reported ABC Australia.

New fast-moving blaze in the southeast

Firefighters on Saturday had managed to stem the advance of a new fast-moving blaze in the southeast of France, as the country's largest wildfire in more than 70 years remained contained but not yet under control in the southwest, France 24 — English reported.

Strong winds fanned flames in the southeastern Var region on Friday, leading to them raging through 1,000 hectares in just several hours in what the regional prefect Simon Babre described as flames moving "faster than a galloping horse." But on Saturday morning he reported no new progression.

Key Claims

• Three firefighters died in Greece while battling a wildfire (ABC Australia, The Hindu).
• The uncontained wildfire in southwest France is four times the size of Paris (ABC Australia, South China Morning Post).
• Tens of thousands of people were driven from homes and vacation sites in France and Spain (ABC Australia, The Hindu).
• Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent, warming at more than twice the global average (ABC Australia, The Hindu).
• France's largest wildfire in over 70 years remained contained but not under control (France 24 — English).
• The fire in southwest France has burned 42,000 hectares and destroyed around 240 homes (France 24 — English).
• More than 2,200 firefighters and over 20 aircraft remained mobilised to battle the wildfire (South China Morning Post, ABC Australia).

Perspectives

Gironde Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez noted that the advance of major fires in the Landes and Var regions had been halted, leaving Gironde as France's biggest remaining wildfire battle, as reported by the South China Morning Post.