French authorities say 220,000 now evacuated from biggest forest fire

BORDEAUX – The French authorities said on July 26 that more than 220,000 people have now been evacuated from the main forest fire raging in the south-west of the country, which has also forced the closure of highways and rail lines.

More than 50,000 additional people have been ordered to leave villages around Bordeaux, which is now under threat from the flames, bringing the total number of people evacuated from this single fire to over 220,000.

Tens of thousands more have been evacuated from other wildfires in France and central Spain.

Because of the spread of the flames in high winds, 60km of the main A63 highway from Bordeaux to the Spanish border has been closed because of the fire, the regional authorities said.

The SNCF rail company said it had also halted train traffic south of Bordeaux.

The fire “will take a long time to bring under control”, and until it is contained “there will be no return” for evacuated residents and tourists, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said in an interview published on July 26 by La Tribune.

The regional prefecture said the fire has now burned about 42,000ha of land, making it one of the biggest in France since World War II. A fire in 1949 devastated about 50,000ha.

The French army has sent 1,500 soldiers to help hundreds of exhausted firefighters who have been battling the flames for nearly a week.

Heat from the flames was causing whirlwinds that made the wildfire “erratic and unmanageable”, said firefighter captain Nicolas Braz, one of the leaders of the operation. AFP