MARSEILLE – Thousands of people, including tourists at campsites, have been evacuated as a wildfire rages near the plush resort of Saint-Tropez in southern France, said the fire service today.
Around 750 firefighters and water-dropping aircraft are battling the blaze in difficult conditions, with high temperatures and strong winds.
“Thousands of people have been evacuated as a precautionary measure, but there are no victims,” said a fire service spokesman, adding that the flames are “still very fierce”.
France is just the latest of a number of Mediterranean countries to be hit by extreme weather and wildfires, which climate scientists warn will become increasingly common because of man-made global warming.
The quickly spreading fire, which broke out yesterday about 100km from the Mediterranean city of Toulon, covered more than 3,500ha of forest and scrubland as of this morning, said the fire service.
Evacuations have mainly taken place around Saint-Tropez and the villages of Le Mole and Grimaud, according to the spokesman.
The Var prefecture confirmed that several campsites have been evacuated and asked people to avoid congesting the roads around the Gulf of Saint-Tropez so that emergency services can access the area.
Wildfires have already flared this summer around the Mediterranean basin, including in Greece, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Algeria and Morocco. – AFP, August 17, 2021
