French prime minister saysFranceneeds to fight climate change ``more than ever'' but adapts to it must also learn. Wildfires continue to ravage pine forests in the southwest, forcing more than 10,000 people to evacuate.
With more than 1,000 firefighters battling rampant Landiras fires south of Bordeaux and hundreds of reinforcements expected, Elisabeth Her Borne said: She added that from September, France will oversee a form of "environmental planning" to ensure that it adapts to the new climate conditions and plants new forests.
More than 6,800 hectares (16,800 acres) of his forest in the Gironde region were destroyed by a massive fire that reignited Tuesday, according to local officials. was destroyed and the neighboring Landes. The Gironde had already seen about 15,000 hectares of pine forest destroyed in July, but the same fires broke out again this week and tore through the woodlands.
Firefighters likened fire to a living entity of its own. "It's a demon, it's a monster," Gregory Arione of the French fire brigade FNSPF told RTL radio.
Officials warned of weather conditions in which wind and drying of the crater box would create an "explosive cocktail" fanning the flames.
"Conditions are particularly difficult. The vegetation and soil are very dry," the local prefectural government said in a statement, calling attention to the extreme dry heat. It was likely until at least Sunday. "There is a very serious risk of a new outbreak."
Temperatures in the region could hit 40 degrees on Thursday, the weather forecaster said.
In one night, a darkened sky glowed orange over the burning forest, and locals faced another night of anxiety as the fires progressed. .
"You might think we're in California, but it's huge...and they're used to bushfires here." But we are overwhelmed, Remy Laet, a firefighter stationed near Hostense in the Landes de Gascogne Natural Park, told Agence France-Presse.
, said he was able to save the village of Belin-Béliet, which turned into a haunted village after police ordered residents to evacuate when the flames approached.Arnaud Méndous, of the Gironde Fire and Rescue Service, said , "We fought all night to prevent the fire from spreading, especially to protect the village of Bellin-Berrier."
At her nearby Hostens, Allisson Fayol and her father remain at home in case they need to leave in a hurry. I was packing my bags.
After seeing many neighbors leave their homes overnight, Fayol told Reuters: "There's still a lot of smoke, but so far it hasn't come here." said.
Randylas' wildfires originally erupted in July. It was the driest month in France since 1961. Forest areas have been destroyed and thousands have been displaced. It contains. But local officials said it had never really gone out, and had continued to smolder in the crater's dry pine forest, which was contained deep in peat soil, before reigniting this week.
Asked if the arson might have reignited the flames this week, Born said, "Given the brutality" of the blaze, Suspicions of criminal intervention," he said, without giving further details.
French President Emmanuel Macron said of a firefighter from his Mediterranean villa: He thanked Germany, Greece, Poland, Romania and Austria for coming to France's aid. The government said Sweden and Italy have also sent firefighting aircraft to help.
