Wildfires ravage France, Spain as residents flee from burning homes

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Firefighters struggled to contain wildfires raging out of control in France and Spain on Sunday as Europe wilts under an unusually extreme heat wave that authorities link to a rise in excess mortality.

In Spain, firefighters supported by the armed forces’ emergency brigades are trying to stamp out over 30 fires consuming forests spread across the country. With rugged, hilly terrain that makes it difficult for ground crews to access, Spain’s National Defense Department said that “the majority” of its fire-fighting aircraft have been deployed.

In France, two huge blazes that have been consuming pine forests for six days just south of the city of Bordeaux in southwest France, have forced the evacuation of some 14,000 people, including many who were set to spend their vacation at campsites.

So far, there have been no fire-related deaths in France or Spain. In Portugal, a pilot of a firefighting plane died when his aircraft crashed on Friday. Hungary, Croatia and the Greek island of Crete have also fought wildfires this week, as have Morocco and California.

The scorching temperatures have reached as far north as Britain, where its weather agency has issued its first-ever “red warning” of extreme heat for Monday and Tuesday, when temperatures in southern England may reach 40 degrees Celsius for the first time.