France ordered another 4,000 people from their homes and holiday sites as a vast wildfire threatened to surge again, while in Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez struck a guarded note of hope, saying there was “light at the end of the tunnel” in his country’s own battle with the flames.
Across France and Spain, exhausted firefighters raced to bring some of the worst wildfires in living memory under control before a fourth summer heatwave sends temperatures climbing once more.
The fires have ripped across huge stretches of forest in both countries, destroying homes, blackening landscapes and driving tens of thousands of residents and tourists to safety.
In the seaside village of Lacanau, near Bordeaux, Marielle Mourgeon was among roughly 4,000 people whose holidays were abruptly cut short after officials ordered campsites cleared as a precaution.
“At first I thought my husband was joking, with the blue sky and the fires dying down,” she said.
But any sense of relief may be brief. Meteorologists say western Europe is bracing for another blast of extreme heat this week, with furnace-like conditions due to return to France and Spain from tomorrow.
French firefighting commander Eric Pitault said crews were “on the offensive” as he stood inside a 50-metre-wide, 25km-long firebreak carved across the Cap Ferret peninsula with the help of civilian volunteers, though he acknowledged the strain on his teams.
Hope beyond the flames
For six days, France’s largest wildfire since 1949 has burned west of Bordeaux, forcing more than 220,000 people to flee and leaving 240 homes destroyed.
The prefect’s office said flare-ups had broken out overnight in the north of the peninsula, but added that they had been brought under control and the total burned area had not expanded.
A wooded area swallowed by flames in Marcheprime, west of Bordeaux in France
In Spain, the fiercest fires have swept through mountainous areas west of Madrid.
Despite the heatwave approaching, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said “we are indeed turning the tide, and we can begin to see light at the end of the tunnel in the fight against these fires”.
Fernando Casado, mayor of Robledo de Chavela, a village at the northern edge of the blaze, urged caution.
“It is true that at night it (the fire) is a sleeping kitten, but during the day it can be a mighty lion. The next few hours are crucial.”
Near Aldea del Fresno, on the eastern flank of the sprawling fires, evacuees sat in lines of cars, hoping they might be allowed back to check on homes, belongings and animals.
They are part of a wider exodus of 60,000 people forced out by fires that have burned 77,000 hectares in Spain, a scar on the landscape almost the size of New York City.
For the moment, however, the Guardia Civil gendarmerie was keeping them away, citing the danger of smoke inhalation.
Watch: Firefighters battle wildfire in Spain’s Castellon province
Galia Borisova, a 55-year-old domestic helper, was desperate to reach her animals in nearby Picadas, but could do little except wait.
“They say there’s so much smoke that you can’t breathe, even with a mask. And I believe it, because you could see it from here,” she said.
A continent under strain
Europe has endured repeated heatwaves and a severe drought this year, conditions scientists have linked to human-caused climate change.
Weeks of extreme heat have baked the soil and stripped moisture from vegetation that had flourished during earlier wet and mild weather, leaving the countryside primed to burn.
Watch: Scorched aftermath of France’s wildfire fight in Bordeaux region
UN climate chief Simon Stiell warned that “the climate alarm is blaring from every direction” and called for a rapid move away from fossil fuels.
Although attention is now fixed on western Europe, the EU’s crisis management chief cautioned that dangerous conditions are emerging elsewhere, raising the risk that already stretched firefighting resources could be tested further.
“Extreme conditions are looming for Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, in addition to France, the Iberian Peninsula… where the situation is expected to worsen, including in Portugal starting today,” commissioner Hadja Lahbib said.
Spain’s meteorological agency AEMET said a new heatwave would begin tomorrow and continue until at least the end of the week, with temperatures expected to reach 42C in the northeast and 39C in central areas.
MeteoFrance also predicted another spell of intense heat from today, with temperatures of up to 40C and dry winds adding to the danger.
Close to the French surfing destination of Le Grand Crohot, powerful gusts were seen driving ash and flames through the air as firefighting aircraft worked to douse a fire that had flared back to life.
Firefighting commander Matthieu Jomain said the weather resembled the conditions present when the blaze first ignited.
“It’s evidence of the precariousness of the situation,” he told AFP as aircraft passed overhead.
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