Authorities in France evacuated some suburbs of Bordeaux on Saturday as a massive wildfire shifted toward the city famous for its wines.
The prefect of the Gironde region, which includes Bordeaux, ordered the evacuation in the early hours of Saturday, covering parts of three of the city’s western suburbs, including its airport. Evacuations were also underway in other towns and villages further west of the city’s immediate suburbs.
A statement from the prefecture said, “As the fire continues to spread, and despite the significant resources deployed by firefighters, the situation requires the evacuation of residents from the affected areas to ensure their safety.”
Massive forest fires have prompted the evacuation of some 200,000 people in southwestern France and central Spain. Residents fled towns near Madrid and Bordeaux on Friday as flames raged out of control.
Firefighters and authorities in both European countries were surprised by the virulence of the fires, which were fueled by high temperatures and the long-term effects of climate change. Firefighters in Spain admitted the fires were so fast and violent that they could not be tackled head on. In France, some people even fled by boat when flames swept through touristic towns on the Atlantic coast.
The French interior ministry reported that approximately 141,000 people fled their homes in the Gironde and Landes departments in France. The Spanish interior ministry stated that 60,000 were forced from their homes west of Madrid in central Spain.
Authorities confirmed dozens of French firefighters were injured, but no deaths were reported in either country despite scenes of panic as townsfolk fled by car and police went door to door instructing people to leave amid large plumes of smoke darkening the skies.
On Saturday, the Madrid regional government announced that fires there had decreased in intensity overnight due to dropping winds and temperatures.
Spain’s Civil Protection Service indicated it expected four more water-dumping aircraft—two from Italy and two from Greece—to arrive on Saturday as part of a European Union response to the emergency. Firefighting aircraft from the Netherlands and Portugal are already deployed in Spain.
### Wildfire Approaches Bordeaux
Gironde region prefect Sophie Brocas stated Friday night that strong winds from the west were pushing the fire closer to the Bordeaux metropolitan area, noting it had grown to “an unprecedented magnitude.”
She said, “The scale of the fire changed. To combat it, we will receive extremely significant national reinforcements. Reinforcements in firefighters, of course, reinforcements in military personnel, reinforcements in healthcare workers, reinforcements in experts. So, we are going to form a much larger team to face this extraordinary fire.”
People covered by the evacuation orders were receiving special alerts on their mobile phones containing instructions to leave.
Brocas added, “We want everyone to be quickly brought to safety. We must act quickly together.”
The blaze began on Wednesday near the Cap Ferret peninsula on France’s Atlantic coast, located 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Bordeaux. On Friday, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez described it as “a large, self-sustaining fire that is extremely difficult to bring under control.”
Laurent Moretti, a resident of Arès, commented, “It’s quite impressive and even frightening. An evacuation on this scale has never happened before. All we really hope is that the firefighters can quickly get it under control.”