A firefighter has died while battling a blaze in the Savoie region in the French Alps, according to French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez. The 22-year-old volunteer firefighter from SDIS 73 lost their life after spending part of the night fighting a forest fire in Savoie. Wildfires have raged across southern Europe since last week, forcing thousands to leave their homes in France.
The European Commission has pre-positioned a record 777 firefighters from 14 European countries in high-risk areas across Cyprus, Greece, Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal. Heatwaves in France and across western Europe in May and June have parched vast areas of land, making them particularly vulnerable to wildfires this year. The Trevillach wildfire in France’s Pyrenees-Orientales has burned 4,900 hectares (12,108 acres).
Earlier this week, a wildfire burning out of control in southern France forced the evacuation of over 10,000 people from two dozen small towns and villages near the Spanish border. The blaze has injured 16 people, including four firefighters, and scorched some 4,600 hectares (11,367 acres) in the foothills of the French Pyrenees. Temperatures are forecast to once again hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in southwest France this week, with Portugal and Spain also baking under another heatwave.
Europe is warming at more than twice the global average, making prolonged heat episodes increasingly likely. Police have arrested an employee of a company contracted by Catalonia’s regional government who is suspected of having sparked the wildfire by using an angle grinder at the side of a road. The EU Civil Protection Mechanism was activated by Portugal and France over the weekend due to wildfires burning simultaneously and scorching thousands of hectares.
Temperatures are forecast to once again hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in southwest France this week, with Portugal and Spain also baking under another heatwave, but are unlikely to reach the record highs seen in June.
