French officials have confirmed the death of two firefighters while battling a huge blaze near Bordeaux’s airport in south-west France.
According to reports from French media, the blaze, near one of the parking lots at the airport, originated from a brush fire and then spread to a building.
Images shared on social media show passengers getting off a plane as a massive plume of smoke rises nearby, which triggered the delay in the number of flights scheduled to arrive at Bordeaux–Mérignac airport.
Some 100 firefighters, backed by specialist aircraft, are reported to be trying to extinguish the blaze.
The country’s interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said he had been informed about the deaths by officials in the Gironde department.
Speaking during Tuesday’s question-and-answer session at the French parliament, Nuñez also said he would travel to Gironde as soon as possible to oversee the firefighting efforts.
Gironde is one of several French departments ravaged by wildfires in recent days due to a series of unusual and prolonged heatwaves.
Also on Tuesday, a huge fire broke out in the south-eastern Var department.
The PSFDF volunteer association, which monitors fires across France, says the blaze in the Pontevès commune is currently out of control and is evolving rapidly.
It said 600 firefighters and rescuers had been deployed to contain the fire, and 150 people had already been evacuated.
President Emmanuel Macron said last week that France has registered nearly 11,000 fires since the beginning of the yea and there had not been so many blazes in the country since World War Two.
Tuesday’s satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis) shows that more than 42,000 hectares (103,784 acres) burned in France between January and mid-July, surpassing the previous record set in 2022.
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, climate change is driving up temperatures around the world, and Europe is the fastest-warming continent, heating up twice as fast as the global average.
“This is causing increased summer heatwaves, greater pressure on Europe’s water supply, and more intense wildfires.
“The record-breaking temperatures across Europe this summer have led to major wildfires, most notably in Spain, where at least 13 people have been killed. Some 29,000 hectares of land have been destroyed by a massive wildfire north of the Spanish capital Madrid”.
BBC