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HEATWAVE

Macron to visit wildfires site as blazes break out across France

As temperatures finally begin to fall after a record-breaking heatwave in France, forest fires still rage across the country. On Wednesday President Emmanuel Macron will visit the south west, where two major fires continue burn.

Published: 20 July 2022 10:24 CEST
Macron to visit wildfires site as blazes break out across France
Firefighters stand on a road with heavy smoke in the background during forest fires in south-western France, on July 17, 2022. (Photo by Philippe LOPEZ / AFP)

The French president is expected to meet members of the emergency services, local officials and volunteers as he tours the area on Wednesday alongside Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.

In Gironde, south west France, there are currently two massive fires – in La Teste-de-Buch and Landiras – that have not yet been contained, though firefighters have managed to gain better control over the flames more thanks to improved weather conditions. 

But fires have broken out across France, including in Brittany, Yvelines in the Paris region and Oise in north east France.

MAP Where are the main wildfires in France right now?

The heatwave has largely ended, with temperatures across the majority of the country dropping from above 40C on Tuesday to the mid-20s on Wednesday.

In Gorinde, local fire service spokesman Arnaud Mendousse told AFP that only 300 more hectares had burned since Tuesday evening. “Our assessment is generally positive. The situation improved overnight.”

In total, nearly 20,600 hectares of forest have gone up in smoke – an area equivalent to almost twice the size of Paris.

So far, 36,750 people have been evacuated from the area, and most do not know when it will be safe to return home. 

“We are not in a position to tell people when they will be able to go home,” said the sub-prefect of Arcachon, Ronan Léaustic, during his press conference.

Humans are not the only ones who have needed to be taken to safety. On Monday, the local authorities in Gironde ordered the emergency evacuation of a zoo in the Bassin d’Arcachon. While most animals were transported out of harms way, “a dozen unfortunately did not survive the heat and stress,” according to the Environment Ministry.  

The biggest blaze is in a thinly populated area south of Bordeaux near the village of Landiras, which is being treated by police as suspected arson.

A suspect remains in custody and will be charged or released on Wednesday.

A second fire has ripped through a popular ocean-front tourist area behind the Dune du Pilat, Europe’s biggest sand dune, near the Bay of Arcachon.

It is thought to have been caused by a van that caught fire last week.

READ MORE: MAP: Where are the main wildfires in France right now?

Meanwhile, fires have also broken out in eastern France and notably in Brittany, where a fire is currently burning in Finistère, causing 500 people to be evacuated.

The fire broke as Brittany experienced record-breaking high temperatures and was placed for the first time on the ‘red’ alert for heat by Météo France. As of Tuesday morning, Finistère went into the ‘orange’ alert level as temperatures began to drop and storms picked up. 

The local authorities in Finistère said the fire has slowed down and is in the process of being contained, citing 1725 hectares burned.

The fire in Brittany burned along the mountains of Arrée, where a historic chapel – the church of St Michel de Brasparts – stands. Firefighters were able to save the church from burning, with flames stopping just a few metres from the structure.

Smoke from the fires has drifted across large parts of France, with the départements of Gironde, Charente, Dordogne and Vienne particularly affected by poor air quality.

READ ALSO Is the smoke drifting from France’s wildfires dangerous?

But the effects were felt as far away as Paris, as inhabitants of greater Paris Île-de-France region noticed a hazy sky and the smell of burning on Tuesday night.

According to Airparif, the agency that monitors air quality in the Île-de-France region, concentrations of particulate matter (air pollution) were in “in sharp increase,” which is attributable to the fire in Gironde and to “local fires”.

The AirParif particle pollution map below shows pollution coming from the south west.

For residents in the Paris area, the fire in Rochefort-en-Yvelines, near Rambouillet, might be most to blame for the strong smell of smoke, however. The city also saw two fires on Tuesday – one at a restaurant in the 16th arrondissement and another in a vehicle in the 17th arrondisement. These are not likely to be the origins of the plume of pollution, however.

Across France, emergency services are asking people not to call if they simply smell smoke, only if they see a fire.  

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CLIMATE CRISIS

‘Extreme’ climate blamed for world’s worst wine harvest in 62 years

World wine production dropped 10 percent last year, the biggest fall in more than six decades, because of "extreme" climate changes, the body that monitors the trade said on Thursday.

Published: 26 April 2024 08:48 CEST
'Extreme' climate blamed for world's worst wine harvest in 62 years

“Extreme environmental conditions” including droughts, fires and other problems with climate were mostly to blame for the drastic fall, said the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) that covers nearly 50 wine producing countries.

Australia and Italy suffered the worst, with 26 and 23 percent drops. Spain lost more than a fifth of its production. Harvests in Chile and South Africa were down by more than 10 percent.

The OIV said the global grape harvest was the worst since 1961, and worse even than its early estimates in November.

In further bad news for winemakers, customers drank three per cent less wine in 2023, the French-based intergovernmental body said.

Director John Barker highlighted “drought, extreme heat and fires, as well as heavy rain causing flooding and fungal diseases across major northern and southern hemisphere wine producing regions.”

Although he said climate problems were not solely to blame for the drastic fall, “the most important challenge that the sector faces is climate change.

“We know that the grapevine, as a long-lived plant cultivated in often vulnerable areas, is strongly affected by climate change,” he added.

France bucked the falling harvest trend, with a four percent rise, making it by far the world’s biggest wine producer.

Wine consumption last year was however at its lowest level since 1996, confirming a fall-off over the last five years, according to the figures.

The trend is partly due to price rises caused by inflation and a sharp fall in wine drinking in China – down a quarter – due to its economic slowdown.

The Portuguese, French and Italians remain the world’s biggest wine drinkers per capita.

Barker said the underlying decrease in consumption is being “driven by demographic and lifestyle changes. But given the very complicated influences on global demand at the moment,” it is difficult to know whether the fall will continue.

“What is clear is that inflation is the dominant factor affecting demand in 2023,” he said.

Land given over to growing grapes to eat or for wine fell for the third consecutive year to 7.2 million hectares (17.7 million acres).

But India became one of the global top 10 grape producers for the first time with a three percent rise in the size of its vineyards.

France, however, has been pruning its vineyards back slightly, with its government paying winemakers to pull up vines or to distil their grapes.

The collapse of the Italian harvest to its lowest level since 1950 does not necessarily mean there will be a similar contraction there, said Barker.

Between floods and hailstones, and damp weather causing mildew in the centre and south of the country, the fall was “clearly linked to meteorological conditions”, he said.

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