Firefighters are facing “unfavorable conditions” on Thursday as they battle two wildfires that have destroyed 4,200 hectares since Tuesday. About 4,000 people, including personnel from the military base, were asked to leave by late afternoon.
The ‘preventive’ evacuation of the town of Cazaux and its military base (BA 120) in La Teste municipality saw 4,000 people who had already taken shelter overnight in 6,000 camps ‘transported by bus and car to the exhibition center’ from Tuesday to Wednesday, the provincial council said. An AFP reporter noted that most had left the area.
‘We are obliged to take these measures because the fumes coming into the Kazakhs are so high. The houses are not currently threatened by fire,” wrote the mayor of La Teste on his Facebook account.
He notes that the Cossacks town, BA 120, involved the evacuation of a supermarket and entire camps.
An AFP journalist noted that the evacuation order caused traffic jams in Kazakhs heading north. Orange tones in the sky and gray hangs in the air.
About 2100 hectares have burned since Tuesday, near the famous hill of Pilate, which has been closed to the public.
Heat wave
A second fire, located near Landras, forty kilometers south of Bordeaux, consumed the same area of pines.
“As of 1:00 p.m., the situation remains unfavorable,” the province noted, explaining that “almost 1,000 firefighters,” “100 fights” and “6 aircraft” were involved.
The forest fire, which caused no casualties, started at the beginning of a heat wave episode that has affected France since Monday, mainly in the west and south of the country.
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