France and Spain fight fires during a heat wave
LA TESTE-DE-BUCH, FRANCE (AP) - France mobilized more spray planes and hundreds of firefighters Monday to combat the fires that were growing, fueled by strong, scorching winds, amid a scorching heat wave from Europe. Two people died in fires in Spain.
After a change in wind direction, authorities in southwest France announced plans to evacuate more towns and displace 3,500 people at risk of falling into the flames.
The Ministry of Interior said, on Sunday evening, that three more planes that could drop water were added to the six planes that were already working on the fire and thick clouds of smoke.
More than 200 people will also reinforce the team of 1,500 firefighters who have been fighting the blazes day and night in the dry pine forests of the Gironde, as winds raised embers and spread the flames further.
Spain reported the second victim in two days in its battle against the fire. The body of a 69-year-old priest was found Monday in the same area where a 62-year-old firefighter died the day before after he was caught in flames in the northwestern province of Zamora. More than 30 wildfires in Spain forced the evacuation of thousands of people and burned 220 square kilometers (85 square miles) of forest and bushland.
In both Spain and France, intense heat is fueling fires. Forecasters warned of temperatures above 104 F (40 C) on Monday. Climate change is making such extreme and dangerous conditions less exotic.
"I have left my country on fire, literally," Teresa Ribera, Spain's minister for environmental transformation, said at climate change talks in Berlin on Monday.
Ribera warned of a "terrifying prospect of days to come" after more than 10 days of temperatures above 40C (104F), which hardly cool off at night.
Heat waves and droughts associated with climate change have made fires more difficult. Scientists say climate change will continue to make weather more extreme and the frequency and destruction of fires will increase.
According to the Carlos III Institute, which records heat-related deaths daily, between July 10 and 14, 237 deaths were associated with warming. By comparison, the previous week saw 25 heat-related deaths.
The heat wave in Spain was expected to subside on Tuesday, although the respite will be short-lived and temperatures will rise again on Wednesday, especially in the dry western Extremadura region.
In Portugal, cooler weather on Monday helped firefighters make progress in tackling the blaze. More than 600 firefighters were battling four major fires in northern Portugal.
In Portugal, cooler weather on Monday helped firefighters make headway against the fires. More than 600 firefighters were attending four major fires in northern Portugal.