Firefighters battle blazes in southern France after European heatwave
The biggest wildfire was burning in the Aude administrative department area near the border with Spain, with some 900 hectares burnt. Local authorities said high winds were making it more difficult for the 800 firefighters to battle the fire.
The World Meteorological Organization last week warned that the record temperatures that baked Western Europe for over a week in late June would worsen the risk of wildfires, given the outlook for sustained high temperatures, very low humidity and dry vegetation.
The biggest wildfire was burning in the Aude administrative department area near the border with Spain, with some 900 hectares burnt. Local authorities said high winds were making it more difficult for the 800 firefighters to battle the fire.
Meanwhile, firefighters were tamping down a small blaze in Rognac near Marseille's airport and had brought under control another nearby fire covering 260 hectares in Lancon-Provence. There were no casualties, local officials said.
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An acrid smell of smoke hung over the area and pilots on at least one flight landing at the city reassured passengers the smell was not coming from their aircraft, a Reuters witness said.
Further east, in Frejus, a resort town in the Var department some 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Cannes, more than 2,000 people were evacuated from six campsites on Wednesday because of a nearby forest fire.
France's weather office has warned that another spell of extreme heat could hit next week. Health authorities estimate the previous heatwave may have caused around 1,000 excess deaths in the country during record-breaking temperatures.
