Fires in Europe: Latest developments

PARIS, France — Here are the main developments related to the wildfires raging in southern Europe on Friday:

France sends troops

Around 500 additional soldiers will be sent to “support the firefighters” battling blazes in southwest France, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced said following a crisis meeting with his key ministers.

Fire moving towards Bordeaux

An “unprecedented” wildfire tearing through southwest France is heading towards the city of Bordeaux, regional prefect Sophie Brocas has said, warning many thousands more people would probably be evacuated.

France evacuations top 140,000

More than 140,000 people have been evacuated from areas threatened by wildfires in France’s southwest, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has told French TV.

READ: Thousands flee raging wildfires in France and Spain, some by boat

He said the authorities would “do everything to protect” Bordeaux, the nearest city to the fire, which he said had scorched 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres).

Madrid fires ‘at peak’

A wildfire raging near Madrid that has forced thousands of evacuations is “at its peak” and impossible to control, said Carlos Novillo, Madrid’s regional government emergency management chief.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will go to the zone to visit the emergency coordination centre there early Saturday, his administration said.

Spain fires merging

A massive fire near Madrid is close to merging with another blaze in neighbouring Castilla y Leon, government official Nicanor Sen Velez has said.

“It is very bad news,” he told journalist.

More evacuations in Spain

Some 40,000 people have been evacuated or ordered to remain indoors in the Madrid region as wildfires continued to spread, central government delegate Francisco Martin Aguirre said, describing the situation as “very complicated”.

Arrest over Spanish fire

Spanish police said they had arrested a man for setting off a fire in Castilla y Leon region by using farm machinery in breach of a ban in the tinderbox conditions.

Another person was under investigation for the same incident, the police said.

‘It devours you’

People in towns and villages around Madrid have been relaying their experiences of escaping the fires, some with just the clothes they were wearing.

“If you don’t run from it and you try to face it, it devours you,” Ecologio Cabrera, 86, told AFP after fleeing with nothing. “I have never experienced anything like this.”

EU planes

The European Union has said it is deploying four specialised water-bombing planes to Spain and three to France to help fight the fires there after the two countries requested assistance.

‘Dramatic’ situation

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his government had deployed “all available resources” to fight the fires.

“We are living through a dramatic situation, not only in various Spanish provinces but also in regions of neighbouring countries,” he wrote on X. /das