French vineyards at risk as heat triggers inferno
MASSIVE fires raged out of control in western France yesterday as experts warned a break in Europe’s heatwave was needed to restrain an inferno that has scorched an area twice the size of Paris.
Emmanuel Macron, the president, will today visit Gironde, where wildfires have torched more than 47,000 acres and forced the evacuation of 37,000 people and 1,000 zoo animals. A dozen animals at Arcachon Basin zoo in Aquitaine died from heat and stress.
Some 2,000 firefighters and nine aircraft are fighting a blaze 5.5 miles long and five miles wide, near the Dune de Pilat, Europe’s highest sand dune, and strong winds have pushed the flames towards Bordeaux’s vineyards.
Jean-luc Gleyze, Gironde’s regional president, said, “It’s a monster like an octopus, and it’s growing and growing and growing.” Sebastien Lahaye, a former firefighter who has coordinated European fire management projects, said “these fires are no longer controllable”, and the weather would have to change if the fires were to be brought under control. Ozone air pollution spiked in France and southern Europe during the record-breaking temperatures and scorching wildfires.
The World Meteorological Organisation warned temperatures would stay high until the middle of next week and that climate change would continue to cause heatwaves.
More than 30 forest fires in Spain have forced the evacuation of thousands of people and blackened 85 square miles. Two people, including a firefighter, have been killed.
José Andrés, a celebrity chef, sent salads and desserts to firefighters who posted a photo on social media of their meagre rations.
Ten of drought-hit Germany’s 16 states were on the highest level forest fire alert amid dozens of blazes.
Low water levels on the Elber and Rhine forced boats to carry less cargo to avoid bottoming out.
Switzerland’s Beznau nuclear power plant had to reduce its output after the temperature of the river Aare, which cools the reactor, rose.
Museums in Brussels transformed themselves into “cooling centres” for the elderly as temperatures reached 40 degrees, while Alkmaar’s famous cheese market in the Netherlands was cancelled in case the delicacies melted.
Meanwhile, a wildfire fuelled by strong winds raged on a mountainous area near homes on the outskirts of Athens yesterday, prompting authorities to evacuate at least two residential areas.
Heavy clouds of dark smoke were seen rising into the sky over Penteli, some 27 km away from central Athens, where the fire broke out.
About 78 firefighters assisted by 22 engines and 16 aircraft were trying to tame the blaze which was burning on two fronts. Authorities have ordered the evacuation of the Drafi and Anthousa areas and advised residents in nearby areas to be ready to leave their homes.