Spanish residents forced to flee some of the worst wildfires in living memory began returning to their homes on Tuesday but thousands more were ordered to leave in France over fears that a looming heatwave would prevent containment of fires that have ripped through the country’s southwest.
Swathes of tinder-dry forests, parched land and property have been destroyed west of the Spanish capital, Madrid, and in France’s Gironde and Landes regions, forcing tens of thousands to head to safety.
Spain‘s interior ministry announced the end of evacuation orders for 15 municipalities on Tuesday afternoon in rare good news.
In the evacuated village of Navas del Rey, AFP reporters saw blackened debris, ash and burnt-out cars.
According to an initial estimate provided to AFP by municipal authorities, around 50 homes were destroyed by the flames and another 50 damaged.
Maria Paz Bolanos, 62, returned with her family to their home and garden in a housing development in the town — and found it only slightly scorched.
“We’ve been here 50 years,” she said. “It must have been my grandfather, my father in heaven. He somehow made it so the fire just came in through and stopped right there.
“It’s a miracle.”
The mayor of nearby Pelayos de la Presa, Antonio Sin, described the scene as “a war zone”.
“It has been a horrendous fire, a brutal one — It’s a monster that has run over us,” he told AFP.
In contrast, Marielle Mourgeon was among 4,000 people forced to cut short holidays in the French seaside village of Lacanau, in the Gironde area near Bordeaux, after camping sites were told to evacuate as a precaution.
“At first I thought my husband was joking, with the blue sky and the fires dying down,” she said.
‘Turning the tide’
Over the past six days, the largest French wildfire since 1949 has raged west of Bordeaux, forcing more than 220,000 people to flee, destroying 240 houses and prompting questions about emergency preparedness.
Sophie Brocas, the government’s top official in Gironde, told reporters the fire had “stabilised… meaning it is not advancing”, and authorised nearly 60,000 people evacuated from three villages around the city to return.
But she said 14 blazes around it had reignited.
South of Lege Cap Ferret on the Atlantic coast, volunteers have been working round the clock to help firefighters restock with water to tackle a wave of fires.
“We pour 8,000 litres on an area and an hour later it starts up again,” said one volunteer, Pierre Marie, after a 12-hour day.
“We fear every day that passes.”
The French government will hold a meeting on Thursday to address businesses’ “concerns,” Industry Minister Sebastien Martin said. The ministry estimates that around 130,000 employees are unable to work due to the fires.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declared that Spain was “turning the tide and we can begin to see light at the end of the tunnel in the fight against these fires”.
Fernando Casado, mayor of Robledo de Chavela, a village at the northern edge of the flames, was more cautious, calling the fire “a sleeping kitten” at night but “a mighty lion” during the day.
Some 60,000 people were forced to flee the Spanish fires, which have consumed 77,000 hectares (190,000 acres) — an area almost the size of New York City.
‘Extreme conditions’
Europe has been gripped by successive heatwaves and a major drought this year, which scientists have attributed to human-caused climate change.
Extreme heat has parched vegetation that had grown vigorously during wet weather earlier in the year, creating tinderbox conditions.
United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell said “the climate alarm is blaring from every direction” and called for a quick end to the use of fossil fuels.
The focus is currently on western Europe but the European Union’s head of crisis management warned extreme heat could also trigger new fires in central Europe.
Spain’s meteorological agency AEMET announced a new heatwave starting on Wednesday and lasting until at least the end of the week, with temperatures forecast to hit 42°C in the northeast and 39°C in the centre.
French weather agency MeteoFrance forecast more hot weather in France from Tuesday, with dry wind.
Near the southwestern French surfing hotspot of Le Grand Crohot, an AFP reporter saw violent gusts of wind whipping up flames as firefighting aircraft attempted to extinguish a rekindled fire.
Firefighting commander Matthieu Jomain warned that the conditions were similar to those when the fire started.
“We’re not out of danger,” added Michael Elicegui, who returned to his home in Biscarrosse in the Landes.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
