France issues highest forest fire alert for 5 southern departments

France issued its highest forest fire alert for five southern departments Tuesday as hot weather and dry conditions increased the threat of further blazes.

The national weather service Meteo-France placed Aude, Gard, Bouches-du-Rhone, Var and Vaucluse at the “very high” fire risk level, while 30 other departments were classified as facing a “high” risk, according to public broadcaster Franceinfo.

Six departments – Herault, Var, Haute-Corse, Corse-du-Sud, Gard and Bouches-du-Rhone – were also under orange heatwave warnings.

The alerts came as firefighters continued to battle several blazes across the country.

A fire that broke out Monday in the Bois Noir area, between the municipalities of L’Argentiere-la-Bessee and Freissinieres in the Hautes-Alpes department, had burned 50 hectares (124 acres) by Monday evening.

Local authorities said the blaze was “in a particularly steep mountain area.”

In the Var department, a wildfire that began in Taradeau and later spread to Les Arcs-sur-Argens was officially contained after burning nearly 200 hectares.

Some 350 firefighters, around 100 vehicles, and aerial resources remained at the scene as operations continued.

In Haute-Corse, fires near Albertacce and Corte burned a combined 570 hectares (1,408 acres), with approximately 250 firefighters deployed alongside significant aerial support.

Authorities also evacuated some 2,700 people from two campsites on the Vendee coast overnight due to fires in Les Sables-d’Olonne and Saint-Jean-de-Monts.

A vegetation fire near a campsite in Les Sables-d’Olonne burned 13 hectares (32 acres) before being contained. The response involved 131 firefighters and two water-bombing aircraft. One campsite resident suffered a heart attack and was taken to a hospital.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said Monday that “a little less than 40,000 hectares (98,800 acres) of forest or vegetation” had burned across France since the beginning of the year.

He said the figure was significantly higher than the total recorded last year and had also surpassed the area burned in 2022, which was already considered an exceptionally severe fire season.