Thousands Of Residents Evacuated From Southwestern France As Forest Fires Destroy Homes

A huge wildfire that has destroyed more than a dozen homes and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents was sweeping through the Gironde region of southwestern France on Wednesday.

More than 1,000 firefighters backed by water-bombing aircraft were fighting the fire that has razed more than 6,000 hectares (14,826 acres) and is still burning out of control.

France, like the rest of Europe, is struggling with successive heatwaves and its worst drought on record.

Dozens of wildfires are ablaze across the country, including at least four other major ones.

Camille Delay fled her home town of Hostens on the orders of emergency services with her partner and son as a wall of flames drew rapidly closer.

The couple grabbed their two cats, chickens and house insurance documents before taking flight, she said.

“Everyone in the village climbed onto their rooftops to see what was happening – within 10 minutes a little twist of smoke became enormous,” the 30-year-old said.

The local Gironde authority described the blaze as “rampant”. Firefighters said more evacuations were likely.

The Gironde was hit by major wildfires in July which destroyed more than 20,000 hectares (49,421 acres) of forest and temporarily forced nearly 40,000 people from their homes.

Authorities believe the latest inferno was a result of the previous fires still smouldering in the area’s peaty soil.

Fires were also raging in the southern departments of Lozere and Aveyron.

In the Maine-et-Loire department in western France, more than 1,200 hectares (2,965 acres) have been scorched by another fire.

Meanwhile, an ailing beluga whale that strayed into France’s Seine river has been put down after it was successfully removed from the waterway, according to authorities.

The development came after rescue divers overnight guided the whale into a net before a crane lifted it from the river in an operation which lasted six hours.

It was then transported in a refrigerated truck to the Channel port of Ouistreham.

During the journey by road, the already-weak beluga suffered respiratory failure and it was euthanised by vets shortly after arriving in Ouistreham to prevent further suffering.

“Despite an unprecedented rescue operation, it is with sadness that we announce the cetacean’s death,” the local Calvados authorities said.

The plan had been to move the malnourished whale to a saltwater basin in the hope it might recover some strength before being transferred to the sea. But it was a risky venture.

The four-metre (13.1-foot) male weighed 800 kilograms (1,763 pounds), well below an adult beluga’s typical weight of 1,200kg, and had not eaten since it was first spotted in the Seine last week.

Rescuers believe it was sick before it wandered up the river to within 70km (43 miles) of Paris.