{"id":327107,"date":"2025-08-08T05:41:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T05:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/327107\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T05:41:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T05:41:17","slug":"frances-largest-wildfire-in-decades-leaves-trail-of-devastation-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/327107\/","title":{"rendered":"France\u2019s largest wildfire in decades leaves trail of devastation \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

France<\/a>\u2019s largest wildfire in decades was burning at a slower pace on Thursday after covering more than 160 square kilometres in the south of the country and claiming one life, local authorities said.<\/p>\n

The blaze, which started on Tuesday and tore through the Corbi\u00e8res massif in the Aude region, has remained uncontained despite the deployment of more than 2,100 firefighters and several water bomber aircraft.<\/p>\n

The fire\u2019s rapid spread was fuelled by weeks of hot, dry weather, though cooler temperatures and calmer winds overnight helped slightly ease the situation.<\/p>\n

Although the wind picked up later, firefighters remained hopeful they could contain the fire by the end of Thursday.<\/p>\n

\"France’sFrance\u2019s biggest wildfire this summer is raging near Durban-Corbi\u00e8res in southern France. Photograph: Hernan Munoz\/AP <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a fire that has not yet been contained and is no longer spreading,\u201d said region administrator Christian Pouget. \u201cThe battle is not over yet. The fire could reignite in a more significant way. We still have a few days before we can say that the fire will be completely extinguished.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fire has swept through 15 communes in the Corbi\u00e8res massif, destroying or damaging at least 36 homes, with a full damage assessment still under way.<\/p>\n

One person died in their home, and at least 13 others were injured, including 11 firefighters, according to local authorities.<\/p>\n

Three people were reported missing, the Aude prefecture said.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Europe heatwave: Two die in wildfire in Spain\u2019s Catalonia regionOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

An investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the fire, which has left a blackened landscape of skeletal trees and ash.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very sad to think about the image we\u2019re going to give of our Corbi\u00e8res region, with its devastated landscapes and desperate women and men, not just today or tomorrow, but for weeks and months to come. It will take years to rebuild,\u201d said Xavier de Volontat, the mayor of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, speaking to BFMTV.<\/p>\n

\"TreesTrees burn on a hill near Durban-Corbi\u00e8res, southern France. Photograph: Hernan Munoz\/AP <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, residents and tourists in nearby areas have been asked to remain in their homes unless told to evacuate.<\/p>\n

Those who had already fled the flames were sheltered overnight in temporary accommodation centres in 17 municipalities.<\/p>\n

The fire, which began in the village of Ribaute, is the most significant France has faced since 1949, according to Agnes Pannier-Runacher, France\u2019s minister for ecological transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe night was cooler, so the fire is spreading more slowly, but it remains the most significant fire France has seen since 1949,\u201d she told France Info radio.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Thousands evacuated in Turkey as wildfires break out amid searing heatOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a fire that is clearly a consequence of climate change<\/a> and drought in this region.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s fire was the biggest since the creation of a national fire database in 2006, according to the national emergency service.<\/p>\n

\"AA burned house near Durban-Corbi\u00e8res, southern France. Photograph: Hernan Munoz\/AP <\/p>\n

Southern Europe has seen multiple large fires this summer.<\/p>\n

Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires.<\/p>\n

Last month, a wildfire that reached the southern port of Marseille, France\u2019s second-largest city, left about 300 people injured.<\/p>\n

Europe is the world\u2019s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing at twice the speed of the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union\u2019s Copernicus Climate Change Service. \u2013 AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"France\u2019s largest wildfire in decades was burning at a slower pace on Thursday after covering more than 160…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327108,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2311,2000,299,36,117936],"class_list":{"0":"post-327107","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-france","12":"tag-weather-events"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114991548645290796","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}