Wildfire Forces Evacuation Of 10,000 People In Southwestern France Near Perpignan

A wildfire burning out of control in southwestern France forced the evacuation of 10,000 people from two dozen small towns and villages near the Spanish border, and officials said strong winds on Monday would further fan the blaze.

“Toggle Play 10,000 people evacuated as wildfire tears through southern France A fast-moving wildfire has forced around 10,000 people to evacuate after burning more than 1,500 hectares in southern France near the Spanish border”

Al Jazeera

The European Union said it was sending four waterbombing aircraft to France from Cyprus and Sweden to help firefighters around the city of Perpignan, while local prefect Pierre Regnault de la Mothe said the fire had scorched some 4,600 hectares in the foothills of the French Pyrenees.

Al Jazeera

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez warned, "This morning conditions are deteriorating again," as the Trevillach blaze burned near the third stage of the Tour de France and led to its closure to the public on Monday to allow firefighters easy access.

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said the stage was 196 kilometres long, began in the Spanish city of Granollers and ended in Les Angles in the Pyrenees-Orientales region, and the motorcade of vehicles that follows the race was kept to a minimum.

On the Spanish side of the border, the fire ravaged 2,200 hectares, with 97 per cent of them in the protected natural area of Les Gavarres, according to local authorities.

As the wildfire continued to spread, Laurent Nunez told TF1, "Today the battle resumes," and the blaze tripled in size since Sunday, according to UPI.

The Guardian said the Pyrenees fire had nearly tripled in size since Sunday and quoted Patrice from the village of Trévillach saying, "It came within 300 metres [984ft] of the houses," describing how fast it spread.

BBC

Police arrested an employee of a company contracted by Catalonia's regional government suspected of sparking the wildfire by using an angle grinder at the side of a road, while authorities warned strong winds could further intensify the blaze.

In Greece, evacuation orders were handed down for three suburbs in the city Thessaloniki after two factories were caught in the flames, causing authorities to recommend evacuating or staying indoors due to toxic smoke.

In Portugal, the biggest fire was already burning through 10,000 hectares, and Luis Neves described the fire and weather conditions as a "powder keg."

The wildfires were ushered in by a heatwave that gripped much of southern Europe, with the region experiencing heatwaves in both May and June that scorched vast areas of land and made them particularly vulnerable to wildfires this year.

“France wildfire: 'Everything was burning,' evacuee says A wildfire burning out of control in southwestern France has forced the evacuation of 10,000 people from two dozen small towns and villages near the ‌Spanish border and officials said strong winds on Monday would further fan the blaze”

CBC

The Guardian said temperatures were forecast to climb again this week, rising to 40C locally, and it quoted the fire chief for Pyrénées-Orientales, Eric Belgioino, saying, "This season is going to be a long one for the soldiers fighting fires."

The European Commission said it was mobilising assistance via the EU civil protection mechanism, and the Saudi Gazette quoted Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib saying, "every minute matters."

On the Tour de France, Tour organizers asked fans and non-essential personnel to stay away from the final 40km and said a convoy of team vehicles that will now follow would be kept to a minimum, while Christian Prudhomme said, "An extraordinary fire requires extraordinary measures for the Tour."

The Connexion reported that state forecaster Météo France placed 51 departments on a heightened risk for forest fires on Tuesday (July 7), and it said nearly 7,000 wildfire outbreaks had been recorded in France since the start of the fire season, according to Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu.