Zürcher Nachrichten - France seeks to 'stabilise' wildfire raging in south

With Europe facing new August heatwaves as concerns grow over the impact of global warming, many areas are on alert for wildfires.

Regional authorities in Spain said late Wednesday that a wildfire near the Mediterranean tourist town of Tarifa that prompted evacuations had been stabilised.

Around 2,000 firefighters were still mobilised Thursday in France's southern Aude department to contain the blaze that started Tuesday. Thirteen people have been injured, two of them seriously.

"The objective is to stabilise the fire" and halt its progress by the end of the day, said Christophe Magny, chief of the Aude department's firefighter unit.

"This is a decisive day for the turnaround," said Captain Jean-Marie Aversinq, spokesman for France's national SDIS fire services. "The next step will be the flooding and treatment" of the vast area affected.

The fire advanced much more slowly overnight to Thursday than at the start, when it engulfed around 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) per hour, according to the authorities in the nearby city of Narbonne.

Weather conditions had become more favourable after two days of strong and changing winds that made the blaze's progress difficult to predict.

Firefighters warned that stronger winds were forecast for later Thursday, when local temperatures were set to reach 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit).

"We have to remain cautious," Magny said.

A 65-year-old woman, who had refused to evacuate, was found dead in her scorched house, while 13 people were injured, 11 of them firefighters.

- 'Unprecedented catastrophe' -

The wildfire is a "catastrophe on an unprecedented scale", Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said Wednesday during a visit to the affected region.

"What is happening today is linked to global warming and linked to drought," Bayrou said.

The blaze has burned around 17,000 hectares of land.

Around 3,000 homes were still threatened by the fire Thursday, firefighters said, while around 1,000 people who had been evacuated in the area were not yet cleared to return home.

In Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, the village hardest hit by the fire, thick smoke rose Thursday from the pine hills overlooking the vineyards where dry grass was ablaze, an AFP journalist said.

On the ground, a fire truck and several fire engines were circulating near the flames, with a water-bombing helicopter approaching the blaze.

The French wildfire is the country's biggest so far in a summer that has already seen around 9,000 fires, mainly along the Mediterranean coast, according to the emergency management service.

An investigation has been opened into the cause, local officials said, but there were no firm leads so far.

The Aude department in particular has seen an increase in areas burned in recent years, aggravated by low rainfall and the uprooting of vineyards, which used to help slow down the advance of fires.

The frequency of wildfires is taking a toll on local residents, said Aude Damesin, who lives in the town of Fabrezan.

"It's terrible for the wildlife, the flora, and for the people who are losing everything," she said.

- Spanish blaze under control -

In Spain's Tarifa, fire crews secured areas near hotels and other tourist accommodations after getting the blaze under control, local officials said.

Antonio Sanz, interior minister for Andalusia's regional government, said on X that "the return of all evacuated people" had been authorised after the fire was "stabilised".

Spanish public broadcaster TVE reported that the fire started in a camper van at a beachside campsite, before being quickly spread by strong winds.

About 1,550 people and 5,500 vehicles were evacuated from campsites, hotels and homes, Sanz said earlier.

Emergency crews had worked through the night to prevent the fire from reaching coastal resorts.

Climate experts say that global warming is driving longer, more intense and more frequent heatwaves around the world, making for more favourable forest fire conditions.

"The Climate Crisis is at our doorstep. If action is not taken promptly and collectively, it's a matter of 'when' not 'if' the next catastrophe takes place," said World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X, saying his thoughts were with everyone affected by the French fires.

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R.Bernasconi--NZN