Wildfires force mass evacuations in France as Spain declares first-ever emergency
Tens of thousands fled wildfires in southwest France after a blaze in Gironde forced the evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula. Spain declared its first-ever national emergency over a wildfire as fires merged outside Madrid.
Tens of thousands of people fled wildfires in southwest France by car and boat, with about 110,000 evacuated as a fire that started near Saumos tore through more than 14,000 hectares of Gironde, destroying over 100 homes and forcing the full evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula. Spain declared its first-ever national emergency over a wildfire after two blazes merged outside Madrid, with more than 19,000 people evacuated from towns in the mountains west of the capital. The fires follow France's hottest June on record, when 72 departments were placed under red heat alert simultaneously, the most since the alert system began. Source: Reuters, Gironde Prefecture, Meteo-France.