Untamed wildfires in Spain, France force over 200,000 to flee

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Out-of-control wildfires in Spain and France that have forced the evacuation of more than 200,000 people raged on Saturday near Madrid and Bordeaux, with Paris mobilising its military to help overstretched firefighters.

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Thick black ash coated roof terraces of houses in the north of the centre of Madrid, an AFP journalist saw, with residents forced to keep their windows closed by the smell of throat-irritating smoke.

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In Bordeaux, in southwest France, 3,500 people who had fled nearby areas — many of which had been crowded for the peak summer vacation period — sheltered in the city’s trade show complex.

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The major fires in both countries have been burning for two or three days, exhausting the many hundreds of firefighters battling them around the clock.

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French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Saturday that the French fires had ravaged nearly 98,000 hectares (242,000 acres) — a “historic record” nearly 10 times the size of the city of Paris.

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So far, no deaths have been reported in the civilian population, but two French firefighters died earlier this week near Bordeaux.

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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, visiting the fire zone near Madrid, said the priority was to “save lives” while warning that a “complex” fight lay ahead. His government has declared a national emergency.

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– Troops deployed –

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French President Emmanuel Macron has deployed 1,000 soldiers to help firefighters near Bordeaux, and on Saturday his government ordered an A400M military transport aircraft to join the fleet of smaller planes already dousing flames.

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The modified A400M, which can release 20 tonnes of fire retardant, is an experimental fit-out that has only just completed preparations and testing.

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The head of the Paris fire brigade on Saturday told AFP that around 100 firefighters from the French capital were being deployed to help in the southwest, adding to 45 firefighters and six vehicles already sent there.

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Spain and France have also requested, and received, EU help in the form of aircraft sent from other European countries.

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Emergency shelters were set up in schools and gymnasiums in southwestern France for tourists and residents left wondering what they would return to.

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“We had no one to put us up,” said Caroline Larrode, 49, who had fled her home in Saumos for a huge Bordeaux hangar housing people evacuated from the Arcachon Basin with her three cats.

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At least 167,000 people have been evacuated in France as a result of the wildfires, Nunez said on Saturday.

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– Tinderbox conditions –

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In Spain, the interior ministry said on Saturday more than 45,000 people were evacuated, while at least another 20,000 were told to hole up in their homes.

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The fires burning in Spain and France advanced quickly because of tinderbox conditions worsened by successive heatwaves the two countries have experienced since May.

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Scientists say global warming is increasing droughts and causing weather emergencies to become more extreme and more frequent. Europe is the fastest-warming continent due to climate change.

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The blazes west of Madrid have burned up to 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres), according to Spain’s interior ministry on Saturday.

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Two of the three major wildfires there have merged into one, and are threatening to join up to form a massive inferno just kilometres from the capital. A Madrid regional government official, Carlos Novillo, on Friday said the fire front was “at its peak and… currently beyond the capacity of firefighters to contain”.

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The Spanish government’s delegate in Madrid, Francisco Martin, on Saturday warned that “erratic gusts” were making the fight difficult, but he expressed optimism that a dip in temperatures offered “a real opportunity”.

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An AFP journalist in the village of El Escorial northwest of Madrid said a historic monastery in the town was shrouded in smoke on Saturday.

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Among those who fled from a suburban town was audiovisual technician Luis, who had spent the afternoon helping evacuees from the village of Pelayos de la Presa when he received the order to evacuate.

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“I cried at first because it’s where I grew up. But now, it’s more a feeling of anger and resignation, because there’s nothing we can do as long as we’re not allowed to go back and see what we’ll find there,” he told AFPTV.

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burs-rmb/sbk

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