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As a heatwave scorches Western Europe, some 38,500 people have been evacuated away from forest fires raging in France’s southwestern Gironde region. No deaths have been reported as of Wednesday, but holidaymakers at campsites near the Dune du Pilat – Europe’s tallest sand dune, perched amid a forest on the Atlantic Coast – had their belongings go up in smoke. FRANCE 24 reports.
Piles of twisted metal were still smoking where holidaymakers’ caravans used to be. A few tents had somehow escaped the flames, left standing in a landscape of charred bikes and barbecues. This was the scene at a campsite near the Dune du Pilat on Tuesday, the day after it was destroyed with five other campsites in the Gironde.
“Come on, let’s get a move on! Now!” shouted local fire department head Mathieu Jomain, as wind swirled at the top of this 100-metre-high sand dune with a breathtaking view of forested hills. Smoke continued to rise to the east as helicopters circled in the sky.
“The pines continue to burn from the inside even when you can’t see the flames,” Jomain said. “My colleagues will have to douse several areas with water to stop the fires from restarting.”
Unfortunately it is already too late for the holidaymakers staying at the Dune du Pilat campsite, who lost the possessions they left behind.
Ruth Kreide from the German town of Rheinbach near Bonn was one such holidaymaker. Like many northern Europeans, the 48-year-old had fallen in love with the Gironde. She has spent the last three summers here along with her husband and…
Source : france24
