A forest fire blazed in southern France on Tuesday, July 8, after it crept across an area the size of 2,000 rugby pitches of trees, causing a motorway to Spain to close temporarily and residents to evacuate their homes.
The fire, the latest of several in the area in recent days, started on the property of a winery south of the city of Narbonne on Monday afternoon, then spread rapidly due to wind and parched vegetation after a heatwave.
More than 1,000 firefighters battled the flames overnight, but by the morning the inferno had partially damaged 2,000 hectares of land and was still going strong, local authorities said.
Local official Christian Pouget said six homes had been partially affected. "The fire has still not been brought under control," he said. In the village of Prat-de-Cest on Tuesday morning, trees were blackened or still on fire.
French weather service Météo France said the risk of fires remained high on Tuesday. Authorities closed the A9 motorway to Spain, but on Tuesday morning they said they were progressively reopening the route to traffic.
Météo France said this weekend that a punishing heatwave that began on June 19 had officially ended on Friday, lasting in all 16 days – the same length as the country's deadly 2003 heatwave. That same day, however, the first major fires of the season broke out in the south.
Scientists say human-induced climate change is increasing the intensity, length and frequency of the extreme heat that causes some forest fires.