Leaders warn of unprecedented fire season and arson risks
London: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has warned of more devastating wildfires across Europe as climate change makes heatwaves more frequent; Emergency crews raced to contain fires in Spain and France before temperatures soared towards the end of this week.
Sanchez pledged more funding for fire shelters ahead of a national ministerial meeting expected to pledge new measures to address climate change amid growing debate over the country’s worst bushfires in decades.
Fires that spread in Spain over the weekend in the province of Avila, west of Madrid, appeared to slow down on Monday, but a fire near Valencia in the south of the country continued to grow out of control.
The massive fire heading towards Bordeaux in southwestern France has slowed as winds have eased, but government officials have warned of increased risks if temperatures reach 39 degrees in the coming days.
French authorities evacuated about 220,000 people, including local residents and those on holiday, while Spanish authorities told about 100,000 people to leave their homes or find shelter.
Sanchez visited La Vall d’Uixo in the province of Castellon, north of Valencia, to step up calls for a “state agreement” between governments to do more to combat climate change.
“What we experienced are not isolated events following each other,” he said. “This is the most painful expression of the climate emergency that is making sixth-generation bushfires more severe, heatwaves more frequent and our region more vulnerable.”
The Spanish Civil Guard released dramatic drone footage on Monday (shortly after 10pm, AEST) showing the Avila fire spreading rapidly through dense forest. The agency deployed more than 8,000 personnel to fight the fires.
Spain’s State Meteorological Agency AEMET predicts that another heat wave, the fourth this northern summer, will start on Wednesday and continue until at least Sunday.
“The wildfire danger level will continue to increase, reaching extreme levels, and firefighting efforts will become more difficult due to high temperatures, locally strong southerly winds and widespread low humidity,” it said in a statement.
According to Sanchez, fires across Spain have burned 150,000 hectares and killed 13 people since the beginning of this year.
The Avila fire, now located within 100 kilometers of Madrid, has burned an estimated 47,000 hectares; This makes it the country’s worst wildfire since official records began in 1968.
While the fires heighten debate about climate change, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu raised concerns about arson in police investigations into suspected criminals.
Lecornu said fires across France have burned 116,085 hectares since January, surpassing the record year of 2022 with 72,000 hectares.
“Our country is going through an unprecedented fire season,” he said, noting that 13,566 “fire starts” have been recorded since January.
“Fighting forest fires starts with prevention. 9 out of 10 fires are human-caused, and most of them are caused by carelessness: cigarette butts, barbecues, careless work.
“But not all of these fires are accidents. Some are started deliberately. 162 arrests have been made since July 6.
“Security forces are fully mobilized to detect arsonists. They will be found, arrested and will be held accountable for their actions in court.”
Lecornu said deliberately lighting a fire is a crime punishable by 15 years in prison.
During his visit to Bordeaux, French President Emmanuel Macron thanked firefighters for their hard work and warned that the coming weeks would be difficult.
“We must endure. We will win this war together. The whole nation is behind you,” he said.
“We are facing a completely unprecedented fire,” Macron added, describing the situation as the country’s worst fire-related crisis since World War II.
Macron said more than 200 houses were burned and that those who “lost everything” would be supported by the government.
The fire in southwestern France remains about 15 kilometers west of the main entry points of Bordeaux, a city of about 1.3 million people in the metropolitan region. Authorities said 80 firefighters were injured fighting the fire.
French officials told the Associated Press that the fire was so strong that the column of smoke turned into a storm, with lightning striking the ground igniting new fires beyond the original fire.
The thunder cloud also produced strong, erratic winds that could direct the flames in new directions.
The phenomenon, called Pyrocumulonimbus, is rare in Europe and is more commonly documented in North America and Australia, where it occurs only during some of the most extreme fires.
France’s national firefighters’ federation said such an incident had never been recorded in the country before.
Scientists in Australia highlighted pyrocumulonimbus events, also known as pyroCb firestorms, in February 2020, following some of the country’s worst bushfires that summer.
Reuters via AP
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David Crowe is the European correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect with: X or email.
