Hundreds of people have been evacuated by boat from the Cap Ferret peninsula in south-west France as a wildfire continues to rage in the Gironde region. Two firefighters have been killed while tackling the blaze near Bordeaux Airport on Tuesday, though officials said there have been no new injuries as of Friday.
Evacuations underway
Residents and visitors have been told to leave via the main road towards Bordeaux or take boats available between 7am and 10am local time from four piers. So far, boats have taken more than 400 people from Cap Ferret, which stretches along France's Atlantic coast to the west of Bordeaux.
The region's prefect, Sophie Brocas, said the "final phase" of the evacuation began early on Friday morning. She said 10,000 visitors were evacuated overnight Wednesday, taking the total to more than 20,000.
Wildfire spreads
The wildfire has raged in the Gironde region since Tuesday, where it began in Saumous and tore through 8,700 hectares overnight. It is now burning near the Arcachon Bay area, a tourist hotspot where many visitors are staying in campsites.
Emmanuel Macron called the situation "very tense" and asked for help from the European Union. The French President said aircraft from Croatia, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia will soon be mobilised to support the country.
Firefighting challenges
Gironde fire service chief Marc Vermeulen warned that rising temperatures and strong winds could exacerbate the situation. He said Thursday: "The work was relentless all night. It'll peak at 8pm. Then we'll have to deal with... highly variable winds so we're currently tackling a fire that is going to be difficult to predict and that's why we cannot relax our guard."
