Wildfire leads to evacuations in some suburbs of the French city of Bordeaux
French authorities are battling severe wildfires near Bordeaux, forcing mass evacuations and disrupting the final stage of the Tour de France. Military aircraft and emergency crews are working to contain the flames as shifting winds threaten to push the fire closer to the city.
Why it matters
The wildfires highlight the increasing impact of climate-driven extreme weather on major public events and regional safety in Europe.
LEGE-CAP FERRET, France -- France sent a hulking military cargo plane to dump tons of flame retardants as it battled raging wildfires on Saturday and slashed the final stage of Tour de France to redeploy security personnel to the blazes that forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.
The latest wildfires in southern Europe this week have displaced more than 250,000 people, including some 70,000 people who were evacuated in central Spain. One man died in Manises, the municipality reported on its Facebook page, the first death so far in the blazes.
In France, the giant A400M transporter swooped in low, its long plume of ochre-colored retardant trailing over drought-hit woodlands in the southwest as fire crews on the ground fought flames that authorities feared could spread toward the wine region city of Bordeaux.
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