{"id":339342,"date":"2017-07-26T06:48:44","date_gmt":"2017-07-26T06:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=339342"},"modified":"2017-07-26T06:48:44","modified_gmt":"2017-07-26T06:48:44","slug":"france-wildfires-force-mass-evacuation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/07\/france-wildfires-force-mass-evacuation\/","title":{"rendered":"France wildfires force mass evacuation"},"content":{"rendered":"
Wildfires in south-eastern France have forced the evacuation of 10,000 people overnight, officials say.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of firefighters have been deployed to battle the fires near Bormes-les-Mimoses, in the country’s Provence-Alpes-C\u00f4te d’Azur region.<\/p>\n
France earlier asked its EU neighbours for more help fighting the fires.<\/p>\n
Some 4,000 hectares (15.4 sq miles) of land have burned along the Mediterranean coast, in the mountainous interior and on the island of Corsica.<\/p>\n
“The evacuations, at least 10,000, followed the progression of the fire,” a fire official was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.<\/p>\n
“It’s an area that doubles or triples its population in summer,” the official added.<\/p>\n
One of the worst fires is raging in an area near the popular resort of Saint-Tropez.<\/p>\n
In Corsica, hundreds of homes have been evacuated.<\/p>\n
Overall, more than 4,000 firefighters and troops backed by water bombers have been trying to extinguish the flames since Monday.<\/p>\n
At least 12 firefighters have been injured and 15 police officers affected by smoke inhalation, officials say.<\/p>\n
Lisa Minot, a British tourist staying in a campsite in Provence-Alpes-C\u00f4te d’Azur, told the BBC she saw planes scooping up water from the sea and then going back “into the pool of black smoke” on the coast.<\/p>\n
Ms Minot said the local authorities had asked holidaymakers to stay on the beach as it was not safe to stay in the campsite.<\/p>\n
She added that there were reports that some campsites had already been destroyed by the blazes.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wildfires in south-eastern France have forced the evacuation of 10,000 people overnight, officials say. Hundreds of firefighters have been deployed to battle the fires near Bormes-les-Mimoses, in the country’s Provence-Alpes-C\u00f4te d’Azur region. France earlier asked its EU neighbours for more help fighting the fires. Some 4,000 hectares (15.4 sq miles) of land have burned along […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[3758,9616],"yoast_head":"\n