About 1,200 people have been evacuated from a camping resort in northern France due to two forest fires near the coast, Reuters reported, citing local authorities.
The fires broke out in the north of the country, in the department of Pas-de-Calais near the Pas-de-Calais strait. According to the prefecture, one of the fires was brought under control, but the situation regarding the second fire remains difficult.
It is difficult for rescue services to reach the place of the fire, and the fire continues to spread unhindered in the southern direction. The evacuated vacationers were accommodated in a temporary shelter.
France and other European countries have faced a particularly active forest fire season this year. Vegetation growth after a relatively wet winter provided additional fuel for the fires, and subsequent heat waves dried out the vegetation.
The Minister of the Environment of France, Monique Barbeau, announced earlier that the long heat waves can lead to direct and indirect losses of up to 15 billion euros for the French economy.
