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By Euronews with AFP
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Two firefighters died on Tuesday while tackling a fire that broke out near France’s Bordeaux international airport, officials said on Tuesday.
According to reports by French media, the blaze broke out from a brush fire near one of the airport’s parking lots, before spreading to a building.
Around a hundred firefighters, some twenty ground vehicles, and several Dash aircraft and helicopters were deployed from the airport to fight the flames.
Several access routes to the airport were closed to facilitate the emergency services’ intervention. The airport said in a statement that the fire was causing delays to some flights.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced expressed his “immense sadness”, sending “sincere thoughts to their families, their loved ones, their brothers and sisters in arms, as well as to all the staff of the Gironde Departmental Fire and Rescue Service”.
“I also want to commend the exceptional work done by their colleagues on the ground who are demonstrating exemplary courage and dedication in these particularly difficult conditions,” he continued in a message posted on his X account.
Nuñez stated that he would go to the scene of the tragedy “as soon as possible”
President Emmanuel Macron also offered “the condolences, recognition and support of the Nation” to the families and loved ones of the two victims, as well as to all firefighters in France.
Wildfire rips through southern France
On Tuesday, a wildfire erupted in southern France, forcing hundreds from their homes and leaving many without power.
“The fire is moving down Gros Bessillon mountain at a very fast speed, which was not at all anticipated given the climatic conditions and weakening wind,” said Simon Barbre, prefect for the region located between Marseille and Nice.
According to French weather service Meteo-France, the dry conditions in the area are what caused the extreme forest-fire risk.
Wildfires have burned more than 42,000 hectares of land in France by mid-July this year, surpassing the previous record set in 2022, the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) reported.
The devastated area is about four times the size of Paris. And the area burned so far in 2026 has already far exceeded the total for all of 2025. France’s all-time annual record stands at 66,300 hectares burned in 2022.
Wildfires that broke out during the first two weeks of July alone burned nearly 15,000 hectares, hitting Fontainebleau forest near Paris, as well as southern France and Corsica.
Last week, France’s President Emmanuel Macron said that there had not been so many blazes in the country since World War II.
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