Bordeaux Fire Contained After Burning 42,000 Hectares
France’s largest wildfire since 1949, which erupted near the southwestern city of Bordeaux, has been brought under control, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez. The fire, which started over a week ago, scorched 42,000 hectares of pine forest along the Atlantic coastline, forcing 220,000 people to evacuate and destroying around 240 homes. Local inhabitants allege that a brushwood-clearing machine accidentally started the blaze with a spark.
The fire is no longer progressing, although some areas remain active, said Minister Nunez. France has been battling wildfires for weeks, following a series of deadly heatwaves that have dried up riverbeds and vegetation, extreme weather events linked to human-made climate change. The total area of land burnt so far this year in France is the largest on record for any year over the past 20 years, with 92,000 hectares burnt, according to satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
In the Gironde region, near Bordeaux, more than 2,000 firefighters and 500 firefighting vehicles have been deployed to combat the fire, alongside gendarmerie and army personnel. Residents have been urged not to return home while operations continue, with 17 temporary accommodation sites opened up. The wildfire is the largest in France since 1949, with French Prime Minister François Bayrou calling it a “catastrophe on an unprecedented scale”.
This wildfire is connected to a prior story about the extreme weather events in Europe, where scientists have linked the deadly heatwaves to human-made climate change.
