WILDFIRES across southern Europe forced thousands of people to flee their homes and prompted authorities to ban spectators from Monday’s Tour de France stage that was threatened by one inferno.
Hundreds of firefighters are battling blazes that have devastated more than 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of land — an area nearly three times the size of Manhattan — across Portugal, Spain, France, Greece and other countries.
The fires are spreading as temperatures rise again — already reaching 43C in Spain — in a continent still scarred by the aftermath of heatwaves in May and June that have been blamed for thousands of deaths.
Scientists agree that climate change driven by humans burning fossil fuels is increasing the risk and severity of heatwaves and other extreme weather phenomena.
Some 10,500 people were told to evacuate their homes near Perpignan in southwestern France as firefighters battled a blaze in the Pyrenees that has devoured more than 4,600 hectares, authorities said.
“The fire came within 300 metres of the houses. We were taken aback by how fast it spread, it was staggering — bordering on panic,” said Patrice, a 53-year-old resident of the village of Trevillach, who did not give his surname. “We started seeing smoke around 10:30 pm, then it kept coming closer and closer. Someone from the town hall knocked on our door around 1 am to tell us to leave,” said Charlotte Pignol. — AFP
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