Key points
- Around 2,000 firefighters are still on duty around the blaze
- Around 2,000 people forced to flee flames had still not been allowed back to their homes
- Fire is the biggest in France’s Mediterranean region for at least 50 years
ISLAMABAD: France’s biggest wildfire in decades will burn for several more days even though it has been brought under control, authorities said Friday as hundreds of firefighters kept up a battle against the flames.
AFP reported that the giant blaze in the southern department of Aude has burned through more than 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of land — an area bigger than Paris, killing one person, injuring 13 and destroying dozens of homes.
About 2,000 firefighters are still on duty around the blaze which was declared under control on Thursday night.
The fire will not be “declared extinguished for several days”, AFP cited Christian Pouget, the prefect for Aude as saying. “There is still a lot of work to be done.”
Authorities have banned access to the forests that were devastated by the fire until at least Sunday.
They said that roads in the zone were too dangerous because of fallen electricity lines and other hazards.
Not allowed back
Pouget said that about 2,000 people forced to flee the flames had still not been allowed back to their homes.
Hundreds of people are sleeping in school gyms and village halls across the region.
The fire is the biggest in France’s Mediterranean region for at least 50 years, according to government monitors, AFP reported. The southern region suffers more than others from wildfires.
At its most intense, the flames were going through around 1,000 hectares of land per hour, according to authorities in the nearby city of Narbonne.
Two days of strong and changing winds made the blaze difficult to predict.
Unprecedented catastrophe
The wildfire is a “catastrophe on an unprecedented scale”, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said Wednesday during a visit to the affected region.
“What is happening today is linked to global warming and linked to drought,” Bayrou said.
Environment minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said Thursday that the fire was the largest in France since 1949, AFP reported.
The country has already seen around 9,000 wildfires this summer, mainly close to its Mediterranean coast.
Spanish blaze under control
With Europe facing new August heatwaves, many areas are on alert for wildfires. Portugal on Thursday extended emergency measures because of the heightened risk of fires.
Near the Spanish town of Tarifa, fire crews secured areas near hotels and other tourist accommodations after controlling a major blaze that also destroyed hundreds of hectares.
Antonio Sanz, interior minister for Andalusia’s regional government, said that “the return of all evacuated people” had been authorised after the fire was “stabilised”, AFP reported.
Spanish broadcaster TVE reported that the fire started in a camper van at a beach campsite, and spread quickly in strong winds.
About 1,550 people and 5,500 vehicles were evacuated from camps, hotels and homes, Sanz said.
Spain is experiencing a heatwave with temperatures nearing 40 °C in many regions, and officials reported 1,060 excess deaths in July that could be attributed to intense heat.
