Firefighters have managed to halt the spread of a "monster" blaze in south-western France, allowing authorities to reopen a stretch of highway to traffic.
French firefighters spray water to put out lingering hot spots left by a wildfire near Belin-Beliet, south-western France. Photo: AFP
"The fire did not advance overnight thanks to the significant means employed," the local prefect said in a tweet Saturday.
Reinforcements from across Europe helped local firefighters tackle the blaze which has ravaged forests in France's Gironde region since Tuesday and forced 10,000 people to evacuate their homes. The fire has been fanned by wind and scorching temperatures of up to 40C in recent days.
The southwest of France had already been hit by fires in July that destroyed more than 20,000 hectares of forest and temporarily forced almost 40,000 people from their homes.
Successive heatwaves have sparked wildfires across Europe this summer, throwing the spotlight on the risks of climate change to industry and livelihoods.
Storms are expected to sweep through France on Saturday night, bringing down temperatures and prompting severe weather warnings.
Over 1000 French firefighters were supported by hundreds of firefighters from across Europe, as well as trucks and waterbombing aircrafts, which continued to arrive Saturday.
Hundreds of firemen are also fighting fires further north in Brittany, where a blaze has burned 400 hectares, as well as in the Jura region in the east, where more than 500 hectares have burned.
More than 60,000 hectares have gone up in flames so far in France this year, six times the full-year average for 2006-2021, data from the European Forest Fire Information System shows.
Climate activists fill golf holes with cement
Climate activists in south-eastern France have filled golf course holes with cement to protest against the exemption of golf greens from water bans amid the country's severe drought.
The group targeted sites near the city of Toulouse, calling golf the "leisure industry of the most privileged".
The exemption of golf greens has sparked controversy as 100 French villages are short of drinking water.
Golf officials say greens would die in three days without water.
"A golf course without a green is like an ice-rink without ice," Gérard Rougier of the French Golf Federation told the France Info news website. He added that 15,000 people worked in golf courses across the country.
The recent action targeted courses in the towns of Vieille-Toulouse and Blagnac. It was claimed by the local branch of the Extinction Rebellion movement.
In a petition, the activists said the exemption showed that "economic madness takes precedence over ecological reason".
While residents cannot water their gardens or wash their cars in the worst-hit municipalities, golf courses have escaped the nationwide restrictions.
The water bans are decreed nationally, but enforcement is at the discretion of regional officials. So far only one area, Ille-et-Villaine in western France, has diverged, banning the watering of golf courses.
The Green mayor of the south-eastern city of Grenoble city, Éric Piolle, criticised the exemption saying: "We continue to protect the rich and powerful."
Some constraints on the golf course remain. Watering must be carried out at night with no more than 30 percent of the usual volume of water.
Some parts of the Loire river have virtually dried up. Across two-thirds of France, a state of crisis has been declared, with rainfall down by some 85 percent.
- Reuters / BBC