Wildfire in Southwestern France Destroys Nearly 15,000 Acres of Forest, Prefecture Says
10:07 GMT 10.08.2022 (Updated: 19:28 GMT 03.11.2022)
© AFP 2023 / CLEMENT MAHOUDEAUA picture shows a tree burned by a wildfire in Tarascon, southeastern France, on July 15, 2022. - An investigation was opened on July 15 on a fire, now contained, which covered 1,000 hectares and burnt through at least 300 hectares of the Montagnette forest massif south of Avignon. The fire was triggered on July 14 by sparks generated on a railroad track by a passing freight train, the prefecture said. (Photo by CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP)
© AFP 2023 / CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU
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PARIS (Sputnik) - A massive wildfire raging in the Gironde department in southwestern France has destroyed 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) of forest and 16 houses, the local prefecture said on Wednesday.
The wildfire broke out again in the commune of Saint-Magne in Gironde last night.
"The area of the burnt forest in the commune of Hostens [in Gironde] has amounted to 6,000 hectares. The fire is very strong, it has spread to the department of Landes," the Gironde prefecture said in a statement.
About 3,800 people have been evacuated from the communes of Hostens, Saint-Magne and Belin-Beliet, and another 2,000 from the town of Belin, according to the statement. The evacuation is still underway.
The disaster has destroyed 16 houses in several areas of Belin-Beliet, though there have been no casualties so far, the statement read.
In July, severe wildfires broke out in the Gironde department due to the heat and drought. Then the disaster destroyed more than 20,000 hectares of forest. Firefighting costed France 6.6 million euros ($6.7 million) in ten days, according to the Europe 1 broadcaster.