Key facts
- Approximately 1,200 people were evacuated from a campsite in northern France due to two wildfires.
- One of the wildfires was under control, while the other was spreading unimpeded.
- France and Europe are experiencing an active wildfire season due to heatwaves and dry vegetation.
- Australia is sending firefighting aircraft and personnel to assist France.
- Greece is also battling numerous wildfires, with some reaching the sea and damaging homes.
Approximately 1,200 people were evacuated from a campsite in northern France due to two wildfires near the beach, local officials reported on Wednesday. The prefecture for Pas-de-Calais stated that one fire was under control, but conditions remained unfavorable for the other, which was spreading unimpeded toward the south. Evacuated campers were being moved to a shelter.
France and the broader European continent are contending with an unusually active wildfire season. A relatively wet winter led to increased vegetation growth, which subsequently dried out during successive heatwaves, creating conditions ripe for fires. French Environment Minister Monique Barbut indicated that these heatwaves could result in direct and indirect costs as high as €15 billion ($17 billion).
In a broader context, nearly a quarter of a million people have been evacuated in France this week due to fires, with 42,000 hectares of forest devastated west of Bordeaux. Australia is providing support by sending aerial firefighting assets and teams, including a CH-47D Chinook helicopter and reconnaissance aircraft, along with 24 aerial and ground crew from the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. This assistance is in response to a request from the French government.
Meanwhile, Greece is battling 73 wildfires, with over 300 firefighters operating in the Viotia region. Fires have reached the sea in some areas, and homes have been damaged. In the United Kingdom, England and Wales are experiencing their driest July in nearly 200 years, with some areas recording less than one millimeter of rain for the entire month.