France and Spain fight wildfires as hot and humid in Europe

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LA TESTE-DE-BUCH, France-France has more water bombers to fight the spread of wildfires that were being supplied on Monday by the hot swirling winds from the fierce heat waves that burned much of Europe. And scrambled hundreds of firefighters. In Spain, two people were burned and killed.

As the wind changes, authorities in southwestern France have announced plans to evacuate more towns and evacuate 3,500 people at risk of putting themselves on the path of fierce flames.

The Home Office said on Sunday night that three more water-drop planes had joined the other six and were repeatedly running over a cloud of flames and heavy smoke.

More than 200 reinforcements to the power of 1,500 powerful firefighters fighting day and night to contain the flames through the crater-dried pine forests of the Girondin region, which sends burning embers into the air and spreads the flames further. Was added.

Spain reported a second death in two days after fighting a wildfire. The body of a 69-year-old shepherd was found in the same hills on Monday. A 62-year-old firefighter died a day before being engulfed in flames in northwestern Samora. More than 30 forest fires broke out around Spain, forcing thousands of people to evacuate and blackening 220 square kilometers (85 square miles) of forests and scrubs.

In both France and Spain, the heat wave is fueling the flames. The forecaster warned on Monday about temperatures above 40 ° C (104 ° F). Climate change is not uncommon for such life-threatening extremes.

“I exposed the country to a fire and literally set it on fire,” Spain’s Minister of Environmental Transition Teresa Ribera said in attendance at a climate change meeting in Berlin on Monday.

She warned, “The next few days are still scary.” After temperatures above 40 ° C (104 ° F) for more than 10 days, it only moderately cooled at night.

Climate change-related heat waves and droughts make it difficult to fight wildfires. Scientists say climate change will make the weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

According to the Charles III Institute of Spain, which records daily temperature-related deaths, 237 deaths were due to the high temperatures of July 10-14. This was compared to 25 temperature-related deaths last week.

Spain’s heat waves are expected to ease on Tuesday, but rest will be shorter, especially in the western Extremadura region, where the craters are dry, as temperatures rise again on Wednesday.

In Portugal, the weather on Monday was much cooler, so the fire brigade made progress against the flames. More than 600 firefighters participated in four major fires in northern Portugal.

Robert Edme and Jon Lester

Associated Press

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