French firefighters kept a close eye on a huge blaze that appeared to be contained in the south-west of the country, with thunderstorms and strong gusts of wind expected in the area overnight.
The 40-kilometer fire front in the Gironde and Landes departments around Bordeaux “did not develop significantly overnight. Firefighters are working on their periphery,” police said in a statement.
But officials said it was premature to say the fire – which has already flared up once again – is under control.
“We remain vigilant” because “while we cannot see huge blazes, the fire continues to consume vegetation and soil,” Arnaud Mendousse, lieutenant colonel of the Gironde Fire and Rescue Service, told AFP.
In the evening, meteorologists expect thunderstorms in the region with wind gusts of up to 60 kilometers per hour.
The wind “could reignite the fire” which is “in a state of pause,” Menousse warned.
EU members, including Germany, Poland, Austria and Romania, have pledged reinforcements totaling 361 firefighters to join the approximately 1,100 French on the ground, along with several European Union fleet depth bombers.
Most reinforcements had arrived on the ground, with the last 146 firefighters from Poland expected later on Saturday.
France was hit this summer by a historic drought that has led to nationwide restrictions on water use, as well as a series of heatwaves that experts say are being caused by climate change.
– Forests taboo –
In eastern France, police said on Saturday they were banning entry to most forests in the Bas-Rhin region near the German border.
Cars, cyclists, hikers, hunters and fishermen are banned from entering the country until Tuesday, police said in a statement. Only residents are allowed to enter the area.
“It is an extreme step in an exceptional situation,” said Pierre Grandadam, president of a group that includes the Alsatian forest communities.
“It is very difficult to enforce the closure of a forest, we can only do it as a last resort, but everything is dry at the moment, the smallest gesture can cause a wildfire. I’ve never seen anything like it.” said the 74-year-old. “We pray for rain.”
The fire near Bordeaux broke out in July – the driest month in France since 1961 – destroying 14,000 hectares and forcing thousands of people to evacuate before it could be contained.
But it continued to smolder in the dry pine forests and peaty soils.
Officials suspect arson may have played a role in the latest flare-up, which has burned 7,400 hectares (18,000 acres) since Tuesday.
Fires in France in 2022 have devastated an area three times the annual average over the past 10 years, with fires also breaking out in the Alpine Jura, Isere and Ardèche regions this week.
European Copernicus satellite data showed that the forest fires in France released more carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas in 2022 – over a million tonnes – than in any summer since records began in 2003.
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