French President Discusses Ways to Tackle Forest Fires in Emergency Meeting

Paris, July 27 (KUNA) -- French President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency meeting today at the French Ministry of the Interior in Paris to discuss measures to address the country’s wildfires. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said in a statement that “as of last night, around 115,000 hectares of land had burned in forest fires since the beginning of the year, forcing more than 250,000 people to leave their homes,” adding that this figure is “far higher than what we have seen in the past.” Nunez noted that firefighters had been battling the wildfires into the morning of today, and he urged citizens and tourists to stay away from the southwest of the country, where a new heatwave is expected to hit areas already suffering from drought. In the Gironde region in the southwest, wildfires have so far forced 220,000 people to evacuate their homes, with temperatures expected to rise again tomorrow, Tuesday, and conditions expected to worsen. It is worth noting that the French Interior Minister confirmed on Sunday that the wildfire situation in southwestern France remains “extremely serious,” as firefighting teams continue their efforts to control the rapidly spreading fires, with more than 300,000 people evacuated from affected areas. (End) M.B. / G.A.