The number of evacuees due to the rapidly spreading fire in southwestern France has exceeded 141 thousand, and the military has been deployed to assist the fire services, Prime Minister Sebastian Lecorn said.
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“The fires that have hit our country have reached unprecedented levels. More than 141 thousand people have already been evacuated to (the southwestern departments of) Gironde and Land to ensure their safety,” the prime minister wrote on the social network X.
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According to him, since Saturday evening, about 500 military personnel have been involved in the field to help firefighters, their number should increase to 1,000 on Saturdays.
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The medical services of the armed forces have also been mobilized. About 1.5 million FFP2 protective masks will be sent to the affected areas.
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The day before, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said that the fire area due to wildfires had exceeded 50,000 hectares since the beginning of the year. Two large fires in the Gironde and Land departments in the south-west of the country are particularly difficult.
In France, forests are on fire amid an abnormal heat wave. As President Emmanuel Macron stated, the country faced a record number of wildfires this summer for the entire period since the end of World War II.
