A wildfire that flared up again in southern France caused 1,000 more people to flee while overnight rain controlled the blazes elsewhere in the country, officials said on Sunday.
France was hit by a historic drought this summer, as well as a series of heat waves and multiple wildfires.
A fire that has been raging in the southern Aveyron region since Monday appeared to be under control, dying on Saturday afternoon when it suddenly flared up again in a “virulent” manner, engulfing 500 more hectares (1,235 acres), the prefecture said.
At least 1,000 people have been evacuated from the village of Mostuejols near the town of Millau and six nearby hamlets, sources said.
About 3,000 people had already been evacuated because of the fire but were allowed to return when it appeared under control. So far, no casualties have been reported from the fire, which has burned a total of 1,260 hectares so far.
A local man was investigated for accidentally starting the fire when a metal part of his trailer struck the road, sending out sparks that ignited dried vegetation.
To limit such risks in eastern France, police said on Saturday they were banning all but residents from most forests in the Bas-Rhin region near the German border.
Meanwhile, in the south-west Gironde region around Bordeaux, a huge fire that flared up on Tuesday was under control after overnight rain, a senior official said.
The situation “improved significantly during the night,” said Arnaud Mendousse of Gironde Fire and Rescue.
He said it had rained between 10 and 30mm in the region but on “extremely dry terrain”.
– Lower temperatures, rain forecast –
“We know this will provide a respite, but it won’t mean an end to the fight. We know that if there is no rain in the next 48 to 72 hours, the risk will increase significantly.”
Mendousse said humidity has risen and the temperature is relatively low at around 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit), adding: “The fire has not been fully extinguished and the ground remains extremely hot”.
Meteo France forecast lower temperatures along with rain and thunderstorms for most of the country on Sunday.
In the north-west, in the legendary Broceliande forest in the Brittany region – where King Arthur roamed and where wildfires are usually rare – a fire was contained after overnight rain but remained under surveillance after it devastated 400 hectares, officials said .
EU members including Germany, Poland, Austria and Romania have sent reinforcements to France to help fight fires, and several European Union fleet depth-bomb planes have also joined the extinguishing effort.
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