- Spanish wildfires prompted thousands of evacuations; one person died.
Edited by: Rana Taha
Massive wildfires in France and Spain continued to gather strength overnight with yet more evacuations for residents near France’s western Bordeaux and Spain’s capital Madrid.
A new fire outside the Spanish coastal town of Valencia claimed one life and forced residents to flee.
What is the latest on the French wildfires?
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez on Sunday said that the blaze raging in the Gironde region near popular Bordeaux had become “extremely intense and unpredictable again” overnight.
Some 2,500 firefighters as well as 1,500 military personnel and 1,200 police have been deployed to the region.
New overnight evacuations brought the total number of displacements in France to over 220,000.
Fires near Bordeaux — a city of 268,000 residents — have also blocked roads, including a highway along the Atlantic coast, and halted train service near the major wine producing city.
In all, the fires have consumed some 42,000 hectares (103,000 acres) — an area four times the size of Paris, or seven times the size of Manhattan — laying waste to more land than at any time since 1949, when fires destroyed 50,000 hectares.
Separately, firefighters are battling an active fire in the southern Var region, where 3,000 people have been evacuated.
New Valencia fire in Spain killed one before being brought under control
In neighboring Spain, fires continued to consume areas west and north of the capital Madrid, where tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes.
On Saturday, authorities ordered the evacuation of eight municipalities near Toledo.
A new fire raging outside the seaside town of Valencia killed one individual before firefighters could get it under control.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Sunday said, “difficult hours lie ahead” as he toured areas impacted by fire west of the capital, before adding “positive” developments had been seen in containing the fire overnight.
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