Firefighters in southern France have warned that a huge fire they have been battling, which spread across an area bigger than Paris, could reignite as the region continues to face a scorching heatwave.
Authorities on Sunday said hot, dry winds and a heatwave would make the work of firefighters even more hazardous.
The fire has ravaged a vast area of France’s southern Aude area, larger than the size of the nation’s capital, killing one person and injuring several.
“It’s a challenging day, given that we are likely to be on red alert for heatwave from 4:00pm (14:00 GMT), which will not make things any easier,” said Christian Pouget, Aude’s prefect.
The fire is no longer spreading but is still burning within a 16,000-hectare area, the chief of the region’s firefighter unit, Christophe Magny, said on Saturday, adding it would not be under control until Sunday evening.
The blaze will “not be extinguished for several weeks”, he said.
Some 1,300 firefighters were mobilised to prevent the blaze from reigniting.
Temperatures this weekend are expected to hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas, while Monday is forecast to be the “hottest day nationwide”, according to national weather service Meteo France.
In Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, a 65-year-old woman was found dead on Wednesday in her home, which had been engulfed in flames.
Authorities said one resident suffered serious burns and four were lightly injured, while 19 firefighters were hurt.
The blaze – the largest in at least 50 years – tore through 16,000 hectares (40,000 acres) of vegetation, disaster officials said.
Emmanuelle Bernier said she was “extremely angry” when she returned to a devastating scene on her farm, with 17 animals lost in the fire.
“I will definitely change jobs. This will change my whole life,” she told the AFP news agency, with her property now housing just a few geese and two sick goats.
Prime Minister Francois Bayrou visited the area last week, calling the wildfire a “catastrophe on an unprecedented scale”.
“What is happening today is linked to global warming and linked to drought,” Bayrou said.
Fires burning elsewhere in Europe
Elsewhere in Europe, fires also rage, with experts stating that European countries are becoming more prone to such disasters due to intensifying summer heatwaves linked to global warming.
Italian firefighters on Sunday tackled a wildfire on Mount Vesuvius, with all hiking routes up the volcano near Naples closed to tourists.
The national fire service said it had 12 teams on the ground and six Canadair planes fighting the blaze, which has torn through the national park in southern Italy since Friday.
In Greece, emergency services brought numerous fires under control over the last two days, but new outbreaks are likely, due to a lasting drought and strong winds, civil protection officials said on Sunday.
The region southeast of Athens was particularly hard-hit, with almost 1,600 hectares (4,000 acres) of agricultural land, forest and scrubland destroyed, according to the meteorological service.
Numerous villages had to be evacuated as a precautionary measure, and about 400 people had to be rescued. On Friday, a man died when his remote house was engulfed by flames.
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