France: Wildfires Destroy Nearly 50,000 Acres of Forest

Paris- The wildfires raging in the Gironde department in southwestern France have destroyed over 20,000 hectares (49,421 acres) of forest, the prefecture of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region said on Wednesday.

“Overall, 20,600 hectares of forest have burnt (7,000 in the commune of La Teste-de-Buch and 13,600 in the commune of Landiras),” the prefecture said on Twitter.

Significant ground and air resources remain involved in extinguishing the fire​​​. Yet no new evacuations in the area were carried out. So far, no injuries have been detected as a result of the blazes, the prefecture added.

On Tuesday, about ten animals died during the evacuation of the zoo in the Gironde city of Arcachon due to forest fires.

Two large forest fires, which erupted in France last Tuesday, have been caused and aggravated by record-breaking temperatures, reaching 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), across the Mediterranean.

Over 12,000 people were reportedly evacuated due to fires in Gironde, where the authorities declared a red forest fire alert level. Thousands of firefighters are struggling to extinguish the wildfires.