{"id":335365,"date":"2025-08-11T09:26:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T09:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/335365\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T09:26:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T09:26:12","slug":"firefighters-bring-huge-blaze-in-france-under-control-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/335365\/","title":{"rendered":"Firefighters bring huge blaze in France under control"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nFirefighters have contained a massive wildfire in southern France but still face a “complicated” struggle, but officials warned on Sunday that scorching heat and dry winds could reignite the blaze.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe fire, which has ravaged a vast area of France’s southern Aude department, killing one person and injuring several others, comes as parts of the Mediterranean region face a heatwave.\n<\/p>\n

\n“The fire is now under control. This still requires continued mobilisation. We must hold on and not weaken,” Amelie Trioux, chief of staff of the Aude prefect, told a press briefing.\n<\/p>\n

\nAuthorities said that hot, dry winds on Sunday \u2013 similar to those on the day the blaze began \u2013 and a heatwave would make the work of firefighters more difficult. Temperatures in the coming days are expected to hit 42C in some areas, according to national weather service Meteo France.\n<\/p>\n

\nSome 1,300 firefighters were drafted in to stop the blaze from flaring up amid fears that winds blowing around 50 kilometres per hour could fan lingering hot spots. The blaze \u2013 France’s largest since 1949 \u2013 has torn through 16,000 hectares of vegetation, disaster officials said.\n<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

‘Extremely angry’
\nFor livestock farmers in Fontjoncouse, the fire has ravaged grazing land and wiped out much of their flocks, fuelling outrage among those who said they did not have time to evacuate their animals.<\/p>\n

\nEmmanuelle Bernier said she was “extremely angry” when she returned to a devastating scene, finding the pen that had housed her herd of goats in ruins, with 17 animals \u2013 some close to giving birth \u2013 lost in the fire.\n<\/p>\n

\n“I will definitely change jobs. This will change my whole life,” she said.\n<\/p>\n

\nBernier’s property now holds only a few geese and two sick goats after she entrusted her surviving sheep to a local winegrower, as the farm was too damaged for them to stay.\n<\/p>\n

\nBut as she surveyed the scorched landscape, Bernier voiced some hope for the future.\n<\/p>\n

\n“There’s still a little life left,” she said.\n<\/p>\n

‘Hard to bear’
\nExperts warn that European countries are becoming ever more vulnerable to such disasters due to intensifying summer heatwaves linked to global warming.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\nResidents of southern France said the high temperatures are becoming unbearable, especially for the most vulnerable, including the elderly or children.\n<\/p>\n

\n“I’ve never experienced a heatwave as hard to bear as this year, said Monique Beluy, 81, in the southern city of Marseille, who worries about living alone.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe heatwave is forecast to peak between Monday and Tuesday, but high temperatures are likely to persist through the end of the week, according to Meteo France.\n<\/p>\n

\n(cp)\n<\/p>\n

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