Forest fires raging through France's hot summer

PARIS

Several forest fires ravaged France on Monday, destroying hundreds of hectares of forests and continuing to pose risks amid an ongoing heat wave and strong winds.

Since the weekend, forest fires have broken out in regions including Brittany, Alpes-Maritime, Dordogne, and Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, and some are believed to be the work of arsonists, said local media reports.

The fire in Isere in Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes in the southwest, raging since Friday, has destroyed nearly 80 hectares of forests. About 270 firefighters supported by two water jet bombers are still trying to stabilize the flames. Around 140 people were ordered to leave their homes in three hamlets. In an interview with BFMTV news, Eleonore Lacroix, secretary general of the Isere prefecture, said the fire is difficult to control as it is burning on inaccessible cliff areas.

In the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in southern France, fires in Rougon and Villeneuve have burned close to 1,100 hectares. Although the flames are now stabilized, firefighters are on alert due to hotspots that could reignite the blazes, as happened last Thursday.

In the northwest region of Brittany, over 30 fires were recorded over the weekend burning at least 115 hectares of forests, a report in Sud Ouest news said. Summer forest fires are not normally common in this region and authorities are investigating if they were started deliberately. A report in France Bleu Armorique said in Saint-Philibert, debris from firecrackers were found.

Although many of these fires have been doused, they continue to pose risks. Mickael Toulec, the mayor of Saint Rivoal in Finistere, of Brittany, told France Info that the combination of high temperatures and rising wind is a dangerous one.

In the Alpes Maritime, too, where seven fires broke out in the last week in the forest massifs around the village of Biot, Mayor Jean-Pierre Dermit told BFMTV news that he believes the fires were started by an arsonist. He has issued a municipal decree closing the local Brague Park as well as all the woods and forests of the town until Aug. 31.

Two other fires in Dordogne in the southwest have burned nearly 110 hectares.