11,000 f lee French blaze as fire pilot dies in Portugal

Strong winds and hot, dry weather frustrated French firefighters’ efforts Saturday to contain a huge wildfire that raced across pine forests in the Bordeaux region for a fifth straight day, one of several wildfires scorching Europe.

One of the worst fires has been in Portugal, where the pilot of a firefighting plane died on Friday when his plane crashed while on an operation in the northeast. It was the first fire fatality in Portugal this year but the blazes have injured more than 160 people this week and forced hundreds to evacuate.

Fire season has hit parts of Europe earlier than usual after an unusually dry, hot spring that left the soil parched and which authorities attribute to climate change.

As the worst French fire moved closer to inhabited towns, some of the 11,000 people who evacuated in the region described fear and uncertainty about what they’d find when they return. Images shared by firefighters showed flames shooting across a mass of pine trees and black smoke stretching across the horizon.

Firefighters focused efforts on using fire trucks to surround villages at risk and save as many homes as possible, Charles Lafourcade, overseeing the French firefighting operation, told reporters. About 3,000 firefighters are battling the blazes in southern France and Greece sent equipment to help.