At least 1 dead, more than 300,000 evacuated amid wildfires in Spain, France
At least one person is dead and more than 300,000 people have been evacuated in France and Spain as wildfires continue to burn through thousands of hectares, officials from both countries said on Sunday.
A 78-year-old man died in the Spanish town of Manises, northwest of Valencia, in an area affected by a wildfire, according to the local fire brigade. The victim had reduced mobility and was caught in the blaze near his orchard, officials said.
The fire is now under control and the town has declared two days of official mourning.
More evacuations are expected in Spain as wildfires continue to burn on Sunday across the Madrid region and the Avila Province, officials said. As of Sunday, the fire in the Madrid region and Avila Province had burned 111,197 acres combined, or about 174 square miles.
The blaze was pushing toward Toledo, officials said.
Sara Aagesen, Spain's Environment Minister, said in an interview on Sunday with Madrid's Radio 5 that further evacuations are likely depending on how the fire moves.
"We believe there will be further evacuations, and we will soon be able to see where they will take place depending on how the fire evolves," Aagesen said.
Aagesen said the fire in the Avila Province is now the largest in recent Spanish history.
About 60,000 people in central Spain have been evacuated from Madrid and Avila. Nearly 88,000 others have been confined in Madrid and Avila, according to the Spanish Ministry of Interior.
Twenty-three towns have been evacuated in Madrid and Avila since the fires began. Madrid has evacuated twelve localities and confined four. Avila has evacuated eleven and confined three.
In southwest France, 198,000 people have been evacuated across Gironde, Landes, Var and Tarn regions, with the majority of evacuations from Gironde, according to French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez.
Around 8,000 additional people have been evacuated near Bordeaux, according to Bordeaux's fire department.
The Var Prefecture in southern France announced that on Monday "all forest areas" in the region will be closed to the public due to the fire hazard.
French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to chair a government crisis meeting on Monday morning focused on the wildfires.
Meanwhile, the final stage of the Tour de France cycling race on Sunday was shortened so that some of the security forces could be freed up and sent to help with the wildfires in the southwest, officials said.
Over the weekend, more towns near Bordeaux, France, were told to evacuate as a precaution. The main fire in Gironde was about 9 miles from Bordeaux on Sunday, officials said.
The flames are approaching Bordeaux again after the wind changed direction at midday on Saturday, said Sophie Brocas, the prefect of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. She said the situation is still serious and dangerous even if the fire has lost a bit of intensity thanks to cooler temperatures and higher humidity.
Officials said they're preparing for all scenarios, including a possible evacuation of parts of Bordeaux.
Overall, more than 167,000 people were evacuated in Gironde as a precaution, according to Ministry of Interior.
The main Gironde fire has burned through 42,000 hectares as of Sunday, officials said. About 140 houses have been destroyed, according to an update from local officials.
At least 54 firefighters have been injured, nine of whom were evacuated, all with non-life-threatening injuries. No casualties have been reported among the security and rescue forces so far, according to Gironde officials.
Nunez called the fires unprecedented and worse than one in 2022. About 115,000 hectares, or 444 square miles, have burned across France so far this year, a historic record.
Wildfires in Spain have burned more than 131,000 hectares so far this year.
