France has sent two water-bombing planes to tackle a wildfire in the historic Fontainebleau forest south of Paris. The fire broke out alongside a highway near Fontainebleau, home to one of France’s best-known royal palaces. By midnight, the flames had scorched more than 800 hectares of land, fanned by hot winds.
Heatwave Grips Western Europe
European countries are worried about increasingly frequent heatwaves and record-breaking temperatures. Most scientists say the fires are driven by climate change, with large swathes of continental Europe parched. Wildfires have already ripped through regions of France, Spain, Portugal, and Greece, charring thousands of hectares of land.
The death toll from a blaze that swept through Spain’s southeastern Almeria province rose to 13 over the weekend, when a 93-year-old British woman died of burns. Western Europe is gripped by its third prolonged spell of baking temperatures this summer.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
