Forest fires devastate France’s famous wine-growing region

A forest fire of “unprecedented” proportions is raging in the famous wine region south of Bordeaux in France, firefighters said on Wednesday.

The Gironde prefecture in southwest France ordered the evacuation of an estimated 10,000 residents.

“Prepare your papers, the animals you can take with you and some of your belongings,” the Gironde municipality of Belin-Beliet posted on its Facebook page before the evacuation.

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No casualties were reported as of Wednesday afternoon. According to the Gironde prefecture, 16 houses were destroyed.

The forest fire started around 1 p.m. on Tuesday in Saint-Magne and Hostens before spreading rapidly due to “unfavorable weather conditions,” the prefecture said.

During the night of Tuesday, almost 6,500 hectares of land around Hostens and Belin-Béliet were engulfed in flames.

More than 1,000 firefighters, nine planes and two helicopters have been mobilized to fight the fire, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said in a statement on Wednesday.

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The municipality of Landiras, the epicenter of the current forest fire, lost over 34,000 hectares of forest in July.

Firefighters are battling at least three more fires in southern France on Wednesday, authorities said.

French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne tweeted that she would visit the region on Thursday.

“The mobilization of government and public services together with local elected officials, volunteers and residents is absolutely necessary,” Borne tweeted.

In southern France, temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius are expected by the end of the week, according to Meteo France, the country’s weather service.

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According to the EU’s European Drought Observatory, drought warnings or alerts are currently in effect in 63 percent of European Union countries and the United Kingdom as of Wednesday.

According to the European Forest Fire System, more than 140,000 acres of French land have burned so far this year, almost six times the national average from 2006 to 2021.

Wildfires ravage France’s famous wine region. Originally published on abcnews.go.com