Deadly ‘unprecedented’ wildfire rages in southwestern France

What is the current fire situation in France?

From Thursday, several dozen soldiers and three army helicopters will help battle the fire, which broke out Tuesday afternoon in the village of Ribaute in the Aude region, a rural, wooded area home to wineries.

The blaze has since swept through 16,000 hectares. Authorities described it as the largest fire in nearly 80 years.

Michael Sabot, the deputy director of Aude fire department, told France’s BFM-TV late on Wednesday that the flames “certainly” wouldn’t be brought under control on Thursday.

This is because of the “unfavourable weather conditions,” he said, as higher temperatures and strong winds of more than 40 kilometres per hour (25 miles per hour) forecast for Thursday would further dry out vegetation.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered the bloc’s help early on Thursday morning to help bring the fires under control.

Scale of the fire is ‘unprecedented’

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou called the fire a “catastrophe of unprecedented scale,” during a visit to the region earlier on Wednesday.

This was the biggest area to be burnt in a single fire since 1949, he added.

“What is happening today, in France, is linked to global warming and linked to drought,” Bayrou said to EU News.

One dead, one missing and 13 injured

One person has died from the fire, 13 others were injured, including two seriously.

An elderly woman died in her home, at least one person is missing and two people were injured, one of whom is now in critical condition with severe burns, according to the Aude prefecture.

Of those injured, nine are firefighters.

Several campsites and at least one village have been evacuated in the region, which is popular with tourists.

Jacques Piraux, mayor of the tiny rural village of Jonquieres, said all residents had been evacuated.

“It’s a scene of sadness and desolation,” he told BFM TV after visiting there on Wednesday morning.

“It looks like a lunar landscape, everything is burned. More than half or three-quarters of the village has burned down. It’s hellish.”

“I left everything behind me,” said David Cerdan, a 51-year-old who fled the village of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, where the elderly woman died.

“I’m putting it into perspective. I only have material damage,” said Cerdan, who lived near the victim.

More than a dozen roads are closed around the region.

The A9 motorway, parts of which were closed Tuesday into Wednesday, reopened Wednesday afternoon after the wind changed direction.

The A9 is a major route for trucks traveling to and from southern Spain. It experiences heavy traffic in the summer due to tourists traveling along the French and Spanish Mediterranean coast.