Rising temperatures and extreme drought in Europe have put the continent ablaze. Fire-related emergencies have been rampant in several regions, including the Gironde region of south-west France.
Due to a massive blaze that destroyed more than 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of pine forest last July, a wildfire that tore through the woodland reignited this Tuesday and recently prompted an evacuation of about 10,000 people, The Guardian reported.
Local authorities in the wine-growing department said that fire is rampant and has now spread to the Landes. Around a thousand firefighters were sent out on Wednesday afternoon by the French government, along with planes dropping water.
The fire sparked back largely due to fierce drought and high temperatures.
"Return to the Inferno"
According to VOA News, heatwave was the second to engulf parts of southwest Europe in weeks, and caused blazing fires in France, Greece, Portugal and Spain. Thousands of hectares of land have been destroyed since and thousands of residents were forced to flee.
Like the rest of Europe, France have been struggling with successive heatwaves and its worst drought on record, as per Aljazeera. Gironde, particularly, had been hard-hit by major wildfires in July. The local Gironde authority described the fires as "rampant", and firefighters said more evacuations are likely.
As the blaze from previous fires still smoldering in the area's peaty soil continued to "progress quickly", Martin Guespereau, an official for the Gironde region, announced the closure of a major stretch of motorway between Bordeaux and Bayonne.
"We're facing a day of very high risk," he said. "The hot weather conditions and record-breaking drought in the area had contributed."
July's inferno had never totally extinguished, but had continued to smolder in the area's peaty soil, reigniting fire driven by hot winds.
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Wall of Flame
Many of about 3,800 people evacuated from their homes in Belin-Beliet, Saint-Magne, and Hostens described the plumes as "towering black" as it approaches. The dark smoke made it very difficult for villagers to evacuate once again after the July fire.
Although no injuries have been reported in the area, 16 houses were reportedly destroyed near the village of Belin-Beliet.
"Everyone in the village climbed onto their rooftops to see what was happening - within 10 minutes a little twist of smoke became enormous," said the 30-year-old Camille Delay who fled her hometown of Hostens as per orders of emergency services late on Tuesday, along with her partner and son, as a "wall of flames" drew rapidly closer.
Camille was only able to salvage their two cats, chickens, and house insurance documents before leaving.
The Landiras or July fire was considered as the largest of several this year in Southwest France, largely due to record-breaking drought and a series of heatwaves. Raging fires were also reported in other parts of the country such as the southern departments of Lozere and Aveyron. Meanwhile, the Maine-et-Loire department in western France also burned more than 1,200 hectares (2,965 acres), scorched by another fire.
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