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Re: EUROPE/US Wildfires & Drought: France Burns as Wildfires Continue in EUROPE
France Firefighters Battle MONSTER Wildfire Near Bordeaux
Evacuated Twice in a Summer as France's Fires Burn
Wildfires Rage in Greece, Spain and Italy as Heatwave Moves Across Europe
BBC 14 AUG 2022
A firefighting aircraft drops flame retardant in the Gironde region, south-western France
Several firefighting aircraft are involved in the massive firefighting operation in the Gironde region
More than 1,000 firefighters are battling a "monster" wildfire in south-western France that has already destroyed about 7,400 hectares (18,286 acres) of forest, officials say.
The blaze about 30km (19 miles) south-east of Bordeaux has gutted some homes and forced 10,000 residents to flee.
"It's an ogre, it's a monster," firefighter representative Gregory Allione told France's RTL Radio.
Strong winds and high temperatures are hampering the firefighting operation.
Sixty-five German firefighters have arrived from Bonn and others from Poland and Romania are expected in the fire zone soon.
"European solidarity at work!" President Emmanuel Macron tweeted.
France has nine water-bombing helicopters deployed and is also getting some firefighting aircraft from Greece and Sweden.
The wildfire in France's Gironde region has been raging for two days near the small town of Landiras.
In the same area last month a wildfire burned 14,000 hectares before being contained. It was France's driest month since 1961.
This summer France and a number of other European countries have seen a wave of deadly wildfires, triggered by record temperatures and droughts across the continent.
More than 1,000 deaths have been attributed to the heat in Portugal and Spain.
A wildfire is now raging in the mountainous Serra de Estrela park in central Portugal, where 10,000 hectares of forest has been destroyed. The area is sparsely populated. About 1,500 firefighters are tackling the blaze.
In the UK, an amber extreme heat warning has now come into force, with temperatures forecast to hit 37C (99F) in some areas over the next four days. The heatwave will probably affect health, transport and working conditions, the authorities warn.
In France some firefighters had to be urgently redeployed from other regions to boost the ongoing Gironde operation.
They are being backed by specialist aircraft dropping water and flame retardant.
But despite all the efforts, the blaze was still out of control on Thursday, local officials said.
"It's the first time we've seen a fire like this," firefighter Jérôme Jean told BFMTV news website.
Evacuated Twice in a Summer
Christian Fostitschenko sat near his camp bed at an evacuation centre in Salles, southwestern France.
He lives in the little town of Saint-Magne, but he can't go home. It's too close to the fire zone.
This area, south of Bordeaux, was hit by a massive fire in July, and another blaze this week.
This is the second time this summer that Christian has been evacuated from his home - and he doesn't know when he can go back.
"I've been here since Monday night and could be here for 10 or 12 days," he told me.
"I'm fed up of it, mentally and physically," he said. "It's time to go home, but it just doesn't stop. It's a very serious fire - the first time that there's been such a big fire in our region."
He sighed sadly. "But people have been very generous. The fire crews are doing a magnificent job."
'Climate Catastrophe'
A huge fire-fighting operation is under way. More than 1,000 French firefighters have been joined by teams from Germany, Romania, Austria and Poland. In a field near the village of Hostens, fire engines from Dusseldorf and several other German regions, were lining to up to help, as a helicopter flew overhead.
Around the cordoned-off fire zone, south of Bordeaux, the big flames have been extinguished, but in some areas, almost everywhere you look, there are wisps of smoke from burning embers on the ground.
We watched as a French fire crew hosed down several small fires that were still smouldering in charred tree trunks, destroyed in an earlier blaze.
Stephanie Martin, from the French fire brigade told me that the fires this summer are "exceptional", with successive heatwaves, wind and no rain creating the perfect conditions for big fires.
She said the emergency teams are managing to stop the fire from spreading, but they remain on high alert, because lightning, wind, and storms, are forecast for the coming days.
"It is very stressful, but we are glad to have firefighters from other countries and professional teams from France."
On Friday night the flames reached the edge of the village of Louchats, threatening several houses. The next morning we met the mayor, Philippe Carreyre, as he supervised a truck spraying water into the woods.
Smoke billows through trees as firefighters try to tackles the blazes
French fire fighters have been joined by teams from around Europe
"We've never known a summer like this," he said. "It's a catastrophe, an environmental catastrophe and also a climate catastrophe. The sun and wind need to be replaced by clouds and rain as quickly as possible."
Our local economy depends on forestry, he said. "We have pine forests, we use the wood for construction, for houses, for the paper industry, so a whole part of the economy is threatened."
In the main square in Louchats, Didier Legros parked his car close to a phalanx of fire engines. "I live close to the forest," he said. In July the flames reached within 300m (330 yards) of his house and they were forced to evacuate.
"The fire came very close. We've got horses," he said. "It was very stressful."
"If it continues this way, I think we will have to move away to a calmer area."
The little local shop in Louchats is still open, but these days mainly for the fire crews. It's hung with banners and drawings by children, thanking the emergency crews for saving their houses. Laura Blondeau, who works at the shop, is worried too.
"I was born here. I used to play in the forest," she said. "To see the forest dead like this is devastating. I'm frightened for the future."
UK Heatwave: Wildfires Break Out Across England
Drought Hits Germany's Rhine River
...Drought on the Rhine: 'We have 30cm of water left'...
As Europe lives through a long, hot summer, one of the continent's major rivers is getting drier - posing major problems for the people and businesses that rely on it.
Captain Andre Kimpel casted an experienced, but worried, eye across the river Rhine, where water levels have dropped significantly in recent days.
Several ferry services in and around the town of Kaub have been forced to a standstill, but he's still carrying people and their cars across the water to the opposite bank - for now.
"It's no joke," he says as he navigates the water which sparkles in the summer sunshine. "We have 1.5m [5ft] of water and our boat sits 1.20m deep. So we have 30 centimetres of water left beneath us."
It's not unusual for water levels to drop here but, Captain Kimpel says, it's happening more frequently. "We used to have a lot of floods. Now we have a lot of low waters."
On the riverbank nearby, there's an old measuring station. Any skipper wanting to enter the Upper Rhine will refer to the official water level recorded here.
The current level hasn't yet fallen below the lowest figure ever recorded here, in October of 2018. The measurement then was 25cm (the measurement is taken from the same reference point in the water, not the deepest point on the river bed).
It's currently 42cm - but is forecast to fall further in the coming days.
Captain Andre Kimpel on board his ferry is still carrying people across the water to the opposite bank says "We have 30 centimetres of water left beneath us"
Travel a little further upstream and the challenge is obvious.
At the town of Bingen, great swathes of the riverbed are exposed, bleached stones powder dry in the baking sun. People from the nearby town pick their way over the rocks, take photographs. In normal times they'd be underwater. One man told me he'd never seen it like this.
A few commercial vessels slowly navigate the channel of water that's left here.
The Rhine is one of Europe's great working rivers and industry here relies on barges to fetch and carry raw materials and finished products to and from the power plants and factories that line the riverbank.
The water's already too low to allow some of the larger vessels through. Others have been forced to reduce their cargo, lighten the load so that they sit higher in the water. And they're keeping a close eye on the river levels.
Due to Russia reducing its gas supply to Germany, the country is relying more heavily on coal
RELATED:
Tons of Dead Fish Found in River on German-Polish Border - Germany's environment minister has said it was "environmental catastrophe"
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