Two fires converged in the Madrid region despite the deployment of over 2,000 personnel and 10 aircraft in an effort to calm the blaze Image: Pierre-Philippe Marcou
Thousands of residents and tourists have fled their homes as massive wildfires continued to spread across France and Spain, prompting large-scale evacuations, emergency declarations and appeals for assistance from neighboring European Union countries.
In southwestern France, authorities ordered the complete evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast after a rapidly advancing wildfire threatened to cut off the area’s only escape route.
More than 60,000 people were evacuated as the blaze scorched about 100 square kilometers of land.
Emergency boats and water taxis ferried residents and visitors to safety, with about 1,500 evacuees arriving by sea in the city of Arcachon, where local officials provided food, water and other emergency support.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez described the wildfire in Saumos, north of Cap Ferret, as the largest France has experienced this fire season.
He said 40,000 people had been evacuated from the Gironde department and another 23,000 from the neighboring Landes department.
“It is quite impressive and even frightening,” resident Laurent Moretti said, noting that an evacuation on such a scale had never occurred before in the area.
French President Emmanuel Macron said France had requested assistance from European Union partners and confirmed that reinforcements would arrive to help firefighters battle the flames.
In Spain, authorities declared a national emergency after two major wildfires merged near Madrid despite the deployment of more than 2,000 emergency personnel and 10 firefighting aircraft.
Officials said about 40,000 people were either evacuated or ordered to remain indoors, including more than 19,000 residents in mountain communities west of Madrid.
Madrid’s emergency management chief, Carlos Novillo, said the wildfire had reached its most dangerous stage and remained beyond firefighters’ ability to contain.
Authorities restricted access to roads near the affected areas, allowing only emergency vehicles while police established checkpoints to keep the public away from the danger zone.
Government representative Nicanor Sen warned that a third wildfire in the nearby Avila province was expected to merge with the existing blazes, further complicating firefighting efforts.
Local resident Javier Martin said he had never witnessed such devastating fires in his 36 years living in the region.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described the situation as dramatic, noting that several regions of Spain, as well as neighboring countries, were battling severe wildfires.
He urged continued support for emergency responders working to contain the fires.
(Source – DW
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