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🇦🇺 Australia /Disasters & Emergencies

Wildfires force mass evacuations in Europe as Australia sends help

From ABC Australia · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

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  • Wildfires have forced nearly a quarter of a million people to evacuate their homes and vacation sites in southwestern France, devastating 42,000 hectares of forest.
  • Cooler, more humid air has helped stabilize the situation, allowing two-thirds of evacuees to return, but hot spots remain.
  • Australia is sending aerial firefighting assets and crews to support French firefighters battling blazes across Europe amid an extremely hot summer.

Wildfires have ravaged southwestern France, forcing the evacuation of nearly a quarter of a million people from their homes and vacation sites. The blazes consumed 42,000 hectares of forest west of Bordeaux, marking a severe impact of Europe's extremely hot summer.

It's stabilised, but not totally stopped. Hot spots remain.

— Laurent NunezFrench Interior Minister Laurent Nunez speaking to RTL radio about the wildfire situation.

While cooler, more humid air has brought some relief, allowing two-thirds of the 224,000 evacuees to return home, "hot spots remain," according to French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez. Local resident Jean-François Pauner described the fire as "vicious," noting its tendency to restart despite continuous efforts to extinguish it.

This is the first fire I'm experiencing real-time, and I can tell you it's vicious. No matter how much we try to extinguish it, re-extinguish it, re-extinguish it, it keeps restarting.

— Jean-François PaunerA local resident describing his experience with the wildfires.

In solidarity, Australia is deploying aerial firefighting assets and a team of 24 aerial and ground crew from the New South Wales Rural Fire Service to aid French firefighters. This assistance includes a CH-47D Chinook helicopter and a Bell 412 reconnaissance aircraft. Federal Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain emphasized Australia's willingness to help a "close and valued friend," recalling France's aid during Australia's 2019-2020 bushfires.

Australia has some of the finest fire-fighting capability on the planet and we are only too happy to do whatever we can to assist, just as France came to our aid during the 2019-2020 Black Summer Bushfires.

— Kristy McBainFederal Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain on Australia's aid to France.

Meanwhile, firefighters in Greece are battling 73 wildfires, with 51 breaking out on Friday alone. Over 300 firefighters are working in the Viotia region, where fires have reached the sea and damaged homes. In the coastal village of Agios Vasileios, approximately 300 people required sea rescue due to encroaching flames. The environmental damage is described as "huge" by the mayor of Thebes.

The fire has reached the sea … homes have certainly been damaged. The winds are very strong.

— fire department spokesmanA fire department spokesman describing the wildfires in Greece.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Australia. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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