Sébastien Lecornu reports that over 141,000 people have been evacuated from southwestern France as unprecedented wildfires continue to rage.
Sébastien Lecornu stated that more than 141,000 people have been evacuated from the Gironde and Landes regions as massive wildfires sweep through southwestern France. The blazes, which have reached an unprecedented magnitude, forced the evacuation of thousands from the suburbs of Bordeaux and the popular Cap Ferret peninsula. To combat the flames, the French army has been mobilized, and a massive cargo aircraft is being deployed to dump flame retardants. The fires are part of a larger European wildfire crisis, with over 250,000 people displaced across France and Spain. In Spain, wildfires near Madrid have forced the evacuation of 25,000 people, while the country has already seen 130,000 hectares of forest burn this year. Officials attribute the intensity of these fires to successive heatwaves and long-term climate change, which have turned forests into tinderboxes. While dozens of firefighters have been injured, no deaths have been reported as authorities work to protect human lives and move residents to safety.