More than 10,000 people were evacuated overnight in southwestern France as a fast-spreading wildfire burned 2,000 hectares of land west of the city of Bordeaux, officials said on Thursday.
Data shows that fires have already scorched more land in Europe this year than the annual average of the past two decades, while the world’s fastest-warming continent has experienced three suffocating, almost back-to-back, heatwaves so far this year.
Five hundred firefighters are battling to bring the fire under control, the prefecture said, adding that the fire situation was very serious, but that no one has been injured so far.
The fire is located near the Arcachon Bay area, a popular tourist destination, and many of the evacuees are tourists staying in camping areas.