In brief
Three firefighters accounted for at the cause of loss from a blaze erupting in a parking area a few blocks from Bordeaux‑Mérignac airport. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed the deaths to Parliament, and 100 firefighters, supported by helicopters, tackled the high‑smoke fire. The incident highlights France’s growing wildfire crisis amid record‑setting summer heatwaves and climate‑driven spikes in fire risk.
Two firefighters died while battling a huge blaze near Bordeaux‑Mérignac airport.
The incident was reported by the French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, who said that officials in the Gironde department had informed him of the loss of two personnel in a building fire that began as a brush fire by a large parking area.
Around 100 firefighters, supported by specialist aircraft, worked to put out the smoke plume that erupted across the airport grounds. Passengers disembarking from aircraft were seen staring at the thick smoke over the tarmac.
The fly‑by‑orange helmets and hoses seen in the footage captures the heroic scene at the heart of an escalating wildfire crisis in France. President Emmanuel Macron has already remarked that this year’s number of blazes is the highest since World War Two.
Heat‑wave conditions have pushed the country over 42 000 hectares of burnt land between January and mid‑July, according to satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EF‑FIS). Climate change is accelerating Europe’s temperature rise, double the global average, and increasing summer heatwaves.
Link to more coverage: Spanish wildfire toll rises to 13 deaths.
