France and Spain wildfires 'out of control,' extinguishment 'will take a long time'

Affected residents from forest fires continued to flock to shelters in France and Spain, where authorities had previously evacuated more than 300,000 people from areas near Bordeaux and Madrid due to catastrophic blazes ravaging both countries and consuming thousands of hectares of forest. Local authorities decided to evacuate additional residents from several areas near Bordeaux in southwestern France, including the town of Cestas, which has a population of 55,000.

Gironde authorities announced yesterday that the massive fire engulfing the area surrounding the Arcachon basin, which now threatens the suburbs of Bordeaux, has destroyed 42,000 hectares of land. The Gironde fire department told Agence France-Presse that the fire is so intense that it has formed a pyrocumulus cloud, effectively “generating its own winds, with vortices, making it erratic and out of control.”

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez warned in an interview with La Tribune newspaper yesterday that fighting the blaze “will take a long time,” adding, “Evacuated residents will not be allowed to return home as long as the fire rages.” Displaced people are arriving in large numbers at shelters in Bordeaux, amid scenes of devastation and destruction.

Spain is also experiencing major wildfires. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told journalists, “We are slightly more pessimistic than we were the day before yesterday.” The day before yesterday evening, authorities ordered the evacuation of eight additional areas in Toledo, west of Madrid, and approximately 60,000 people were evacuated in the Madrid region.

Two forest fires merged on Friday into a massive blaze, with flames consuming up to 25,000 hectares west of Madrid. The number of people affected by worsening forest fires in Spain has risen to more than 121,000.