Wildfires Force Evacuations Across Europe

Fires across France and Spain continue to displace almost 270,000 people.

A man has died in a wildfire near the Spanish city of Valencia, where firefighters found his body in a car in a ravine in Manises, west of the city. This tragedy underscores the severity of the crisis.

In France, 197,000 people have been evacuated from their homes around Bordeaux and its suburbs. The French armed forces significantly expanded their military response to these major wildfires, deploying over 1,500 soldiers to support firefighting efforts, assist with evacuations, provide medical care, transport, accommodation, and logistical support.

These troops are also supplying specialist equipment like bulldozers, helicopters, drones, and A400M military aircraft equipped for aerial firefighting. The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, convened a new government crisis meeting on the wildfires in south-west France later that day.

The Spanish Prime Minister's warning: 'We don’t know how the wind will develop,' as temperatures have dropped.

Spain has declared a national emergency for the first time over these wildfires. Around 70,000 people had been evacuated from villages west of Madrid. The evacuation involved numerous evacuees who recounted their harrowing experiences. Rodika, 60, from Fresnedillas de La Oliva near Madrid, told Reuters: 'I saw clouds of smoke rising into the sky. That’s when I realized something was happening. I think we all panicked. Then we received the message telling us to get ready, take whatever valuables we could, whatever was most important. I took my cat, and we left.' Julio, 41, from a nearby town of Navalgamella, added: 'Neighbours were shouting, the police were shouting, everything was happening at once. We packed the essentials: two or three changes of clothes, my medication in my case, some cash, and we left.'

The European Commission has offered support with additional firefighting resources.

Spain’s interior ministry warned that residents in towns like San Martin de Valdeiglesias and villages such as Valdemaqueda near Madrid should stay indoors. More than 250,000 people have been evacuated across both countries.

The Spanish Prime Minister's warning of 'complex hours' ahead as authorities say they are far from bringing blazes burning near Madrid under control.

Sources: The Guardian, BBC