Bordeaux, France. Firefighters worked through the night and into Monday morning to contain major wildfires near Bordeaux, where thousands of people have been evacuated from homes and holiday residences.
The fires, which began last week near France’s Atlantic coast, were about 15 kilometres from entry points to the Bordeaux metropolitan area.
Evacuations and fire risk
About 220,000 people have been evacuated in France, authorities said over the weekend. In neighbouring Spain, more than 75,000 people have been evacuated and a further 30,000 people have been ordered to shelter in place.
Jerome Steffe, mayor of Cestas, a suburb outside Bordeaux, said on Monday that the fire was of a scale not previously seen. Cestas is among the areas from which thousands of residents and holidaymakers have been evacuated.
Heatwave concerns
France’s weather office forecast temperatures in Bordeaux to reach 37 degrees Celsius later this week, increasing concerns about the fires.
“It’s a race against time before the heatwave returns,” Steffe said.
President Emmanuel Macron’s government was due to discuss the wildfire situation at a cabinet meeting on Monday.
In July, temperatures in the Aquitaine region averaged 32.2 degrees Celsius, 7.3 degrees above the normal monthly high recorded between 1961 and 1990, according to Reuters Climate Monitor.
