Key facts
- Nearly 3,000 people evacuated in southern France due to wildfires.
- Two firefighters sustained minor injuries.
- 200 firefighters and four water-bombing aircraft deployed to Sainte-Marie-la-Mer and Canet-en-Roussillon.
- 1,200 firefighters mobilized since Wednesday to battle forest fires.
- Record-breaking heatwave last month exacerbated wildfire risk.
Wildfires are raging in southern France, prompting the evacuation of nearly 3,000 people, including tourists and residents from campsites in Sainte-Marie-la-Mer and Canet-en-Roussillon. Two firefighters sustained minor injuries. Two hundred firefighters and four water-bombing aircraft were deployed to combat the blazes, with officials describing it as a 'fierce struggle' to contain the spread, particularly in an industrial zone. The fires follow a record-breaking 11-day heatwave in June that saw temperatures exceed 40C, significantly increasing wildfire risk. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez stated that 1,200 firefighters had been mobilized since Wednesday, emphasizing that weather conditions remain unfavorable due to severe water stress on vegetation and strong winds across the Mediterranean region. The French weather agency forecasts another period of elevated temperatures next week, though not expected to be as extreme as the previous heatwave.