Raging wildfires force residents to flee their homes by boat

More than 80,000 people have had to flee their homes because of ‘apocalyptic’ wildfires burning across France and Spain.

Some even fled by boat when flames swept through the touristic Cap Ferret peninsula on France’s Atlantic coast.

Authorities ordered the total evacuation of the peninsula, a tourism hotspot busy for the summer season, as smoke and flames drew closer to homes.

Around 63,000 people were evacuated from the area, with both France and Spain asking fellow European Union members for help in dealing with the fires.

Laurent Moretti, a resident in the town of Arès, said: ‘It’s quite impressive and even frightening.

‘An evacuation on this scale has never happened before. All we really hope is that the firefighters can quickly get it under control.’

Hundreds of firefighters have been deployed and additional ground and aerial reinforcements were sent Friday to tackle the blaze. Meanwhile, another major wildfire burned further south down the coast. It remained uncontained as strong winds did not help firefighters.

Authorities believe the cause of both fires was accidental.

France’s Interior minister Laurent Nunez said 40,000 people have been evacuated in the Gironde department, and 23,000 in the Landes.

French President Emmanuel Macron said France will receive EU reinforcements including two Croatian Canadair firefighting aircraft, two Portuguese Air Tractor aircraft, and two heavy-lift Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Southern Europe has seen multiple large fires this summer. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as quickly as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires.

In Spain, more than 10,000 people were evacuated from towns in the mountains west of the capital, Madrid, as firefighters sought to prevent three fires in the region and neighboring Avila province from joining, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said.

The area, where many residents from the capital have second homes, is densely populated.

That played a role in the government decision to declare a national emergency, allowing it to better coordinate the response, Grande-Marlaska said, adding that the aggressive nature of the fires and hot, windy weather also prompted the move.

It was the first time such a measure has been taken due to a wildfire.

The last time Spain declared the same level of emergency alert was during a massive nationwide power blackout last year.

Spain has also sought assistance from the EU, the Interior Ministry said.

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