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Wildfires in France and Spain are testing emergency crews as hot, dry weather threatens to keep major fires burning for weeks or months.
France and Spain battle blazes
France issued heat warnings Tuesday for the southwestern Gironde and Landes regions, where crews are trying to contain a massive fire near Bordeaux.
The Gironde fire has burned more than 100,000 acres, about four times the size of Paris, and destroyed more than 240 homes. French officials said the fire had stabilized, but Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said it was not fully contained.
“In fact, it has a life of its own,” Nunez said. He said the fire has been fed by weather conditions and the nature of the forests, which repeated heat waves have dried out.
President Emmanuel Macron called it France’s worst fire-related crisis since World War II.
He visited a firefighting coordination center Monday and urged crews to “stay strong.” Officials said thousands of firefighters and aircraft were working to stop the flames from spreading before temperatures rise again.
Spain is also battling major fires around Madrid, Ávila, Toledo and the Valencia region. The Associated Press reported that authorities evacuated 79,000 people and told 30,000 others to stay in their homes.
In Ávila, officials said one fire has become Spain’s largest on record, burning roughly 195 square miles. Spain’s weather agency forecast temperatures above 104 degrees as another heat wave moves in.
Other threats to the countries
Firefighters in eastern Spain’s Castellon province are also facing the danger of unexploded ordnance left from the Spanish Civil War. Officials said the old munitions are scattered across mountainous terrain where crews are working.
The weather is adding pressure in both countries. France’s weather office forecast more hot, dry conditions and no rain for the hardest-hit areas. Spanish officials said strong heat and winds could force more evacuations, depending on how the fires move.
Authorities in France and Spain have warned that some fires could take months to fully extinguish.
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