Fires within 10 Miles of Bordeaux as 300,000 evacuate Spain
The Bordeaux region is under threat from one of the most severe wildfire emergencies in modern French history. The largest fire is burning in the Gironde department, primarily in the Landes pine forest west and southwest of the city.
The main wildfire has burned about 42,000 hectares (104,000 acres) of forest. Around 220,000 people have been evacuated from communities, campgrounds, and tourist sites. More than 2,500 firefighters, aided by aircraft and international assistance, continue working to prevent the fire from spreading toward populated areas.
Climate factors:
- Prolonged drought and exceptionally dry forests have combined with an onslaught of heatwaves this summer. Unusually strong winds are contributing to the unprecedented situation.
France’s First “Fire Cloud” (pyrocumulonimbus) developed near Bordeaux.
A pyrocumulonimbus is a cloud that forms above a large wildfire when intense heat drives smoke, ash and water vapour high into the atmosphere. A rare but increasingly common phenomenon, fire clouds are so intense that they at able to generate their own weather. They are including strong winds and lightning that can ignite additional fires.