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Published 4 days ago • loading... • Updated 2 days ago
France deploying massive cargo aircraft to dump flame retardants on wildfire, after nearly 200,000 evacuations
France is using a converted A400M aircraft and 1,500 soldiers as firefighters battle a fast-moving blaze that has forced mass evacuations near Bordeaux.
On Saturday, authorities evacuated suburbs surrounding Bordeaux as wildfires threatened the city, part of a crisis displacing more than 200,000 people across France and Spain.
Record-Breaking heatwaves have turned European landscapes into tinderboxes, with experts at World Weather Attribution calling 'heat domes' a driver making extreme fire seasons 'virtually impossible' without human-driven climate change.
More than 141,000 people fled homes in Gironde and surrounding French departments, while 60,000 evacuated in central Spain; at least 27 French firefighters have been injured battling the flames.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez deployed hundreds of soldiers and an A400M aircraft to combat the Gironde blaze, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited a command post addressing the unprecedented destruction.
Although Saturday's weather offered 'a window of opportunity' for crews to contain the fires, authorities warned the situation remains 'long and very difficult,' with European nations deploying aircraft to bolster efforts.