Europe unites to fight infernos
PARIS: Firefighting teams and equipment from six EU nations started to arrive in France to help battle a spate of fires, including a fierce blaze in the parched southwest that has forced thousands to evacuate.
Most of the country is sweltering under a summer heatwave compounded by a record drought.
“We must continue, more than ever, our fight against climate disruption and … adapt to this climate disruption,” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said after arriving at a fire command post in the village of Hostens, south of Bordeaux.
The European Commission said four firefighting planes would be sent to France from Greece and Sweden, as well as teams from Austria, Germany, Poland and Romania.
“Our partners are coming to France’s aid against the fires. Thank you to them. European solidarity is at work!” President Emmanuel Macron tweeted.
“Across the country over 10,000 firefighters and security forces are mobilised against the flames. These soldiers of fire are our heroes,” he said.
In total, 361 foreign firefighters were dispatched to assist their 1100 French colleagues deployed in the worst-hit part of the south.
Among eight major fires currently raging, the biggest is the Landiras fire in the southwest Gironde department, whose forests and beaches normally draw huge tourist crowds each summer.
It had already burned 14,000ha in July – the driest month recorded in France since 1961 – before being contained, but it continued to smoulder in the region’s tinder-dry pine forests and peatrich soil.
Ms Borne said nine firefighting planes were already dumping water on the blaze, with two more to be in service by the weekend.
On several houses nearby, people hung out white sheets saying: “Thank you for saving our homes” and other messages of support for the weary fire battalions.
“You’d think we’re in California, it’s gigantic. And they’re used to forest fires here but we’re being overwhelmed on all sides – nobody could have expected this,” Remy Lahlay, a firefighter deployed near Hostens, said.
In Portugal, more than 1500 firefighters were battling a fire that has raged for days in the mountainous Serra da Estrela natural park in the centre of the country.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Switzerland, a thick layer of ice that has covered a Swiss mountain pass for centuries will have melted away completely within a few weeks.