Hundreds of firefighters are battling to contain a massive and deadly wildfire in southern France that officials have called the country’s largest in decades.
Prime Minister François Bayrou of France, who visited the region on Wednesday, described the blaze as a “catastrophe on an unprecedented scale.” The fire has become the country’s biggest since 1949, Julien Marion, the civil defense chief, said.
The blaze, which began on Tuesday afternoon near the municipality of Ribaute in the Aude region, has killed one person and injured two civilians as well as 11 firefighters, officials said. Two of the injured were in critical condition on Thursday. Three people were reported missing.
The fire exploded in size, fueled by winds and hot weather, and by Wednesday evening had grown to over 16,000 hectares, or about 40,000 acres. It was raging across 15 municipalities, officials said.
Extreme heat this summer has fueled record blazes across much of Europe, especially in the south. The latest fires in France have been driven and made worse by climate change and drought, Mr. Bayrou told local reporters.
Preliminary reports suggest that several dozen homes and about 40 vehicles have been burned or damaged, Aude officials said on Thursday morning.
Over 2,100 firefighters were battling the blaze, along with military units and aircraft, officials said. Improved weather conditions overnight allowed firefighters to slow its progress by early Thursday, Aude officials said. But the authorities continued to urge residents to stay in their homes or stay away if they had been ordered to evacuate.
Parts of southern France remained under an elevated fire risk for Thursday and Friday, according to the country’s meteorological agency. A heat wave was expected to hit parts of region from Friday and last until early next week. On Thursday, wind gusts of 25 to 31 miles per hour were expected in the Aude region from midday.
Yan Zhuang is a Times reporter in Seoul who covers breaking news.
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