"France, Spain Fight Spreading Wildfires As Europe Swelters"

"LA TESTE-DE-BUCH, France — France scrambled more water-bombing planes and hundreds more firefighters to combat spreading wildfires that were being fed Monday by hot swirling winds from a searing heat wave broiling much of Europe. In Spain, two people have been killed in blazes there.

With winds changing direction, authorities in southwestern France announced plans to evacuate more towns and move out 3,500 people at risk of finding themselves in the path of the raging flames.

Three additional water-dropping planes were joining six others already making repeated runs over the flames and dense clouds of smoke, the Interior Ministry said Sunday night.

It said more than 200 reinforcements were also being added to the 1,500-strong force of firefighters battling night and day to contain the blazes through the Gironde region’s tinder-dry pine forests that are also sending burning embers into the air, further spreading the flames."

Robert Edme and John Leicester report for the Associated Press July 18, 2022.

SEE ALSO:

"Humanity Faces ‘Collective Suicide’ Over Climate Crisis, Warns UN Chief" (Guardian)

"Britain Declares National Emergency As Record-Breaking Heat Wave Sweeps Over Europe" (NBC News)

"UK PM Johnson's Government Under Fire For Neglecting Heatwave Danger" (EuroNews)

"Climate Change: Heat Deaths Could Triple By 2050" (BBC News)

 

Source: AP, 07/18/2022