‘Challenging day’ for firefighters battling huge blaze in France

Firefighters tackling a massive wildfire in southern France face a “challenging day” with officials warning on Aug 10 that scorching heat and dry winds could reignite the blaze.

The fire, which has ravaged a vast area of France’s southern Aude department, killing one person and injuring several others, comes as parts of the Mediterranean region face a heatwave.

The authorities said hot, dry winds on Aug 10 – similar to those on the day the blaze began – and a heatwave would make the work of firefighters more difficult.

“With temperatures approaching 40 deg C, there is a major risk of fire,” said local official Herve Baro.

Some 1,300 firefighters were drafted in to stop the blaze from flaring up amid fears that winds blowing around 50km per hour could fan lingering hot spots.

“It’s going to be a challenging day,” said Mr Christian Pouget, prefect of the Aude department.

The fire is no longer spreading but is still burning within a 16,000ha area, said the chief of the region’s firefighter unit Christophe Magny on Aug 9, adding it would not be under control until the next evening.

But the blaze will “not be extinguished for several weeks”, he said.

Some 1,300 firefighters were mobilised to prevent the blaze from reigniting amid fears that the tramontane wind, which officials said picked up overnight from Aug 9 to Aug 10, could fan lingering hot spots.

Temperatures in the coming days are expected to hit 42 deg C in some areas, and Aug 11 is forecast to be the “hottest day nationwide,” according to national weather service Meteo France.

In Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse,

a 65-year-old woman was found dead

on Aug 6 in her home, which was devastated by flames.

The authorities said one resident suffered serious burns and four others were lightly injured while 19 firefighters were hurt, including one with a head injury.

The blaze –

the largest in at least 50 years

– tore through 16,000ha of vegetation, disaster officials said.

For livestock farmers in Fontjoncouse, the fire has ravaged grazing land and wiped out much of their flocks, fuelling outrage among those who said they did not have time to evacuate their herds.

Ms Emmanuelle Bernier said she was “extremely angry” when she returned to a devastating scene, finding the pen that had housed her herd of goats in ruins, with 17 animals – some close to giving birth – lost in the fire.

“I will definitely change jobs. This will change my whole life,” she said.

Ms Bernier’s property now holds only a few geese and two sick goats after she had to temporarily entrust her surviving sheep to a local winegrower, as the damage to the farm was so extensive that they could no longer stay.

“Everything here was built around the sheep, and seeing the flock leave was incredibly difficult for me,” she said.

But as she surveyed the scorched landscape, Ms Bernier voiced some hope for the future.

“There’s still a little life left,” she said.

Experts say European countries are becoming ever more vulnerable to such disasters due to intensifying summer heatwaves linked to global warming.

There has been “an acceleration in the occurrence of heatwaves” linked to climate change, Meteo France said, noting the country has had only two summers without such episodes in the past 16 years.

Residents of southern France said the high temperatures are becoming unbearable, especially for the most vulnerable, including the elderly and children.

“I’ve never experienced a heatwave as hard to bear as this year, said 81-year-old Monique Beluy, in the southern city of Marseille, who worries about living alone.

I’m feeling less and less calm given my age and my health. I know I’m more vulnerable,” she said.

The heatwave is forecast to peak between Aug 11 and 12, but high temperatures are likely to persist through the end of the week, according to Meteo France. AFP