France’s firefighters continued to battle several major wildfires along the Atlantic coast and in the south of the country, as President Emmanuel Macron said European partners were sending aircraft and helicopters to support the effort.
“The situation remains under very high tension in the face of the fires ravaging the country, particularly in Gironde,” Macron said on X early on Friday, referring to the region near Bordeaux. He said France had requested the activation of the European Union’s civil protection mechanism and would receive support from Croatia, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The most serious blaze was burning near Bordeaux, a popular tourist region, where around 20,000 people have been evacuated from campsites and holiday resorts since Wednesday. When they will be able to return remains unclear.
The fire had spread to 4,800 hectares by Thursday evening, the Bordeaux prefecture said, adding that the situation remained difficult as the flames were still highly active. About 800 firefighters, 260 vehicles, five water-bombing aircraft and a helicopter were deployed. One firefighter was injured, but no other serious injuries have been reported.
Earlier in the week, two firefighters were killed while battling a blaze near Bordeaux’s airport.
Temperatures of up to 39 degrees Celsius were expected again in the region on Friday.
Another fire near the Atlantic coast south of Bordeaux, destroyed 1,200 hectares after a delivery van caught fire and the flames spread to vegetation. Around 5,000 people were evacuated.
In southern France, a wildfire near Pontevès, north-east of Marseille, also flared up again. About 500 residents were evacuated as a precaution, while around 800 firefighters backed by more than 100 soldiers fought the blaze.
France’s defence ministry said it was preparing an Airbus A400M military transport aircraft for firefighting operations, with the plane able to drop 20 tons of water and expected to be ready within 10 days.