Wildfires Continue to Rage in France and Spain

Firefighters struggled on Sunday to contain wildfires raging out of control in France and Spain as Europe wilts under an unusually extreme heat wave that authorities link to a rise in excess mortality.

Two huge blazes have burned their way through pine forests for six days just south of the city of Bordeaux in southwestern France. The fires have forced the evacuation of some 14,000 people, including many who were on holiday in the area.

Firefighters in Spain were supported by the armed forces' emergency brigades in trying to extinguish more than 30 fires consuming forests across the country. 

The devastating forest fires are triggered by a summer heat wave in Europe. Parts of the continent are bracing for new temperature records early next week.

Meteo France is expecting new heat records on Monday.

The fire season has hit after an unusually dry, hot spring that left the soil parched and which authorities attribute to climate change.

What is happening in France?

In France, the situation deteriorated in the southwestern Gironde region where firefighters were fighting to control forest blazes that have destroyed nearly 11,000 hectares (27,000 acres) since Tuesday.

The wildfires in France forced more than 16,000 people to flee. Seven emergency shelters have been set up for evacuees.

The Interior Ministry announced it would send an extra three firefighting planes, 200 firefighters and more trucks.

Authorities placed 15 departments, mainly down its western seaboard, on red alert — the highest on the scale — on Sunday.

Fifty one other departments were on orange high alert, with residents urged to be vigilant.

France's heat wave is expected to hit its high temperature of 40 degrees Centigrade (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday.

What is happening in Spain?

In Spain, firefighters managed to stabilize a wildfire that ravaged 2,000 hectares of woods and bushes in the southern region of Andalusia, regional leader Juan Manuel Moreno said.

The blaze started on Friday in the Mijas mountain range inland from the southern coastal city of Malaga. It led to the evacuation of about 3,000 people.

Around 2,000 people had since returned home and now that the blaze has stabilized, Moreno said the remaining evacuees may do the same.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is due to visit the hard-hit eastern region of Extremadura on Monday where various fires have been raging for days.

The national meteorological agency maintained various levels of alert across the nation, warning of up to 44 C in some regions.

The Carlos III Health Institute said 360 heat-related deaths have occurred during the recent heat wave.

What is happening in Portugal?

Portugal remained on high alert for wildfires despite a slight drop in temperatures, after hitting 47 C — a record for the month of July — on Thursday.

Only one major fire was burning on Sunday in the north.

The fires have killed two, injured around 60 and destroyed between 12,000 and 15,000 hectares of land in the country.

The meteorological institute, meanwhile, forecast temperatures of up to 42 C for the coming days.

Over the course of 2022, until mid-June, 39,550 hectares in Portugal have been ravaged in wildfires, data from the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests shows. In the last week, almost two-thirds that amount has burned.

During the heat wave over the past week, Portugal's Health Ministry said 238 people had died, most were elderly with preexisting health conditions.