Forest fires devastate areas near Paris in new heat wave

According to the French Ministry of the Interior, the flames consumed an area of 100 hectares in the Fontainebleau biosphere reserve, recognized by UNESCO. The fire blocked the A6 highway, which connects Paris to the south of France, and affected long-distance rail transport services in the French capital. According to the country's authorities, the outbreak was controlled, but the local population regrets the damage caused by the fire.

“In three decades, I have never seen anything like this,” Didier Buguinet, deputy mayor of Le Vaudoue, a village with around 750 inhabitants that had part of its area consumed by fire, told Le Monde newspaper. “Let’s cry for our forest.”

The occurrence of forest fires in the metropolitan region of Paris is unusual, which reinforces the concern of scientists and authorities about the effects of the intense heat recorded in recent weeks in most of Western Europe.

Last week, a forest fire killed 13 people near Almería, Spain. The outbreak was only contained last Sunday (12), after consuming around 70 km2.

The United Kingdom also recorded fire spots over the weekend, in a vast area stretching from London to Manchester, in addition to other outbreaks in the counties of Durham, Derbyshire, East and West Sussex, Devon and Somerset. According to Bloomberg, firefighters were still working to contain a large forest fire in north Wales.

AFP, Al-Jazeera, BBC, CNN, Euronews, Guardian, NBC News, Reuters and Sky News, among others, also covered the news.