LE PORGE(National Times)- Wildfires sweeping through parts of Italy, France and Spain on Thursday forced thousands of people to flee blazes fanned by scorching temperatures and strong winds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three firefighters have been killed as southern Europe endures another spell of severe heat, with temperatures topping 40C in some areas. The total area of land burnt this year in European Union countries is the second largest on record, according to satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). Tourists and locals have told of desperate escapes from flames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe gendarmes came and knocked on every door, the fire was about 500 metres away \u2014 we grabbed some things and left,\u201d said Patrick Martineau, a 69-year-old resident of Le Porge, south of the French city of Bordeaux.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Sicily, around 6,000 firefighters, forest guards and civil protection officers battled dozens of fires raging for days across the Italian island. One firefighter died after falling ill while battling the flames, the interior minister said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A spokesperson for Italy\u2019s Civil Protection Agency said that the fires were \u201cbeing fuelled by very high temperatures and very dry soil\u201d. More than 160 fires have also been recorded in Calabria region, with the local civil protection chief saying arsonists had tied rags soaked in flammable liquid to the tails of stray cats to spread the flames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around Bordeaux, more than 20,000 people \u2014 mostly tourists in campsites and holiday lets \u2014 have been evacuated since Wednes\u00adday, as a fire ravaged a seaside pine forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re dealing with a very dense stand of closely packed pines,\u201d firefighter captain Wilfried Schneider said, describing a fire of \u201crare\u201d intensity. No casualties have been reported \u2014 and authorities said the inferno had been contained on one flank \u2014 but two firefighters died on Tuesday tackling another blaze near Bordeaux airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018No chance\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were on the beach and they told us to go back to the campsite to collect our things,\u201d said Belgian tourist Elke Urbain, 50. \u201cWe\u2019re not afraid because everyone is taking care of us, but we\u2019re sad for the people here.\u201d Le Porge mayor Martial Zaninetti said the fire appeared to have been sparked by a brush-clearing machine, though police were investigating the cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Skies over Le Porge turned orange as smoke rose from charred and crackling pine trees, while helicopters made repeated runs over evacuated neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fires in 2022 damaged 30,000 hectares (75,000 acres) of the same forest, forcing some 50,000 people to be evacuated. Fires are breaking out faster because of climate change caused by the burning of oil, coal and gas. European droughts are now more severe, climatologists from the World Weather Attribution group said in a study published on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Across the border in Spain, progress against a major wildfire south of Madrid allowed most residents to return Thursday, emergency services said. The blaze, which broke out near the city of Toledo, prompted authorities to evacuate several districts as flames advanced towards homes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LE PORGE(National Times)- Wildfires sweeping through parts of Italy, France and Spain on Thursday forced thousands of people to flee blazes fanned by scorching temperatures and strong winds. Three firefighters have been killed as southern Europe endures another spell of severe heat, with temperatures topping 40C in some areas. The total area of land burnt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n