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France has stepped up efforts to battle the fires, deploying a large number of air tankers and sending hundreds of firefighters to the ground as the blazes are fueled by strong winds and a heat wave that has gripped much of Europe. .
The change in the direction of the winds has prompted authorities in the southwest of the country to draw up new plans for mass evacuations in several cities. The first move will be the relocation of the 3,500 most vulnerable people in the path of the flames that cannot be brought under control.
Three more tanker planes joined the fleet fighting the blaze, the French Interior Ministry said, adding that more than 200 reinforcements were also being added to the 1,500-strong force of firefighters fighting day and night to contain the fires in the pine forests. arid regions of the Gironde region, which are also sending hot embers into the air, causing the flames to spread further and further.
Europe is facing an extreme heat wave that has resulted in hundreds of deaths due to record temperatures. At least 748 heat-related deaths have been reported in neighboring Spain and Portugal, while “boiling” temperatures are also being recorded in Great Britain. In Zamora, Spain, at least two people died in fires that forced the evacuation of hundreds of others.
“There was smoke everywhere, a terrible black smoke darkened everything. I saw a light outside and thought the car was on fire, but when I opened the door I was faced with flames that had entered our yard“, says Mercedes Pilo Cardoso.
The images of a train in Spain that is surrounded on both sides by flames have gone around the world, turning into a harrowing testimony of the critical situation that the residents of the affected areas are facing there.
Some of the worst fires seen so far were in Portugal, where the pilot of a firefighting plane died on Friday after his plane crashed during an operation in the northeast. This was the first fire-related fatality in the state. The flames have injured more than 160 people there this week and forced hundreds to evacuate.
Many of the outbreaks are in rugged hilly terrain, making it difficult for teams to access from the ground. Fire season has hit parts of Europe earlier than usual this year after an unusually dry spring, and authorities say climate change has played a role.
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