Nearly 3,000 people have been evacuated in southern France and water-bombing helicopters deployed to battle wildfires after a record-breaking heatwave last month, officials said on Thursday.
Tourists and local residents had to be moved after a wildfire broke out in the town of Sainte-Marie-la-Mer and spread to Canet-en-Roussillon.
Firefighters said nearly 3,000 people were evacuated with half of them from three campsites in the affected area.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries, said Pierre Regnault de La Mothe, the top regional official for the southern department of Pyrenees-Orientales.
Two hundred firefighters and four water-bombing aircraft were deployed to put out the blazes.
“We are mobilising a large network of volunteers,” said the prefect.
Firefighters were engaged in “a fierce struggle” to prevent the flames from spreading in an industrial zone, he added.
In June, France experienced a record-breaking heatwave which lasted 11 days and saw temperatures climb above 40C in many places.
Apart from having “major impacts” on human health, ecosystems, agriculture, and infrastructure, the extraordinary heatwave worsened the risk of wildfires, the World Meteorological Organisation said last week.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 1,200 firefighters had been mobilised since Wednesday to battle forest fires.
“Weather conditions remain particularly unfavourable,” he said in a post on X.
The Meteo-France weather agency said a new spell of elevated temperatures would hit the country next week, although they are not expected to be extreme like in June.
Plants and vegetation are under severe water stress, adding to the danger of fires, while strong winds are blowing across the Mediterranean region.
Some French politicians have denounced what they call the authorities’ inadequate measures to help France face rising temperatures, and the Greens on Thursday filed a no-confidence motion against the government.
Additional sources • AP, AFP