Wildfires evacuate 10,000 people in SW France

PARIS, July 15– Wildfires raging in southwestern France since Tuesday have evacuated 10,000 people and burned 7,300 hectares of land, French news channel BFMTV reported Friday. The flames have burned 4,200 hectares of land in Landiras, a city 40 kilometers south of Bordeaux, and 3,100 hectares in the city of La Teste-de-Buch, 70 kilometers from Landiras, BFMTV…

PARIS, July 15 (Xinhua) — Wildfires raging in southwestern France since Tuesday have evacuated 10,000 people and burned 7,300 hectares of land, French news channel BFMTV reported Friday.

The flames have burned 4,200 hectares of land in Landiras, a city 40 kilometers south of Bordeaux, and 3,100 hectares in the city of La Teste-de-Buch, 70 kilometers from Landiras, BFMTV cited the prefect of Nouvelle-Aquitaine region as saying.

In La Teste-de-Buch, the fire has destroyed seven houses and some boats.

About 100 firefighters are still at work at the fire site Friday, but high wind and persisting high temperatures are unfavorable to the firefighting operation, the news channel reported.

In another development, it said some 1,100 firefighters have been fighting against fires in the south of Avignon in southern France since Thursday.

The fire broke out on a railway line and spread into a forest of pine trees towards the city of Tarascon. About 1,000 hectares of land have been burned. Enditem