France deploying massive cargo aircraft to dump flame retardants on wildfire, after nearly 200,000 evacuations
The A400M will join 18 other aircraft as more than 141,000 people have been evacuated from the Gironde and Landes regions, officials said.
- On Saturday, authorities evacuated suburbs surrounding Bordeaux as wildfires threatened the city, part of a crisis displacing more than 200,000 people across France and Spain.
- Record-Breaking heatwaves have turned European landscapes into tinderboxes, with experts at World Weather Attribution calling 'heat domes' a driver making extreme fire seasons 'virtually impossible' without human-driven climate change.
- More than 141,000 people fled homes in Gironde and surrounding French departments, while 60,000 evacuated in central Spain; at least 27 French firefighters have been injured battling the flames.
- French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez deployed hundreds of soldiers and an A400M aircraft to combat the Gironde blaze, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited a command post addressing the unprecedented destruction.
- Although Saturday's weather offered 'a window of opportunity' for crews to contain the fires, authorities warned the situation remains 'long and very difficult,' with European nations deploying aircraft to bolster efforts.
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France, Spain battle wildfires as more than 250,000 people are forced to flee homes
LEGE-CAP FERRET, France — France sent a hulking military cargo plane to dump tons of flame retardants as it battled raging wildfires on Saturday and slashed the final stage of Tour de France to redeploy security personnel to the blazes that forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. The latest wildfires in southern Europe this week have displaced more than 250,000 people, including some 70,000 people who were evacuated in central Sp…
How the A400M military transport plane was converted to fight wildfires in France
The aircraft was deployed on Saturday to support the French civil protection fleet in an attempt to contain the wildfire that has ravaged tens of thousands of hectares and forced over 140,000 people to evacuate their homes.
Hundreds of firefighters are trying to contain the fire that fuels the prolonged heat waves and climate crisis.
Hundreds of thousands race to escape wildfires in France and Spain
An urgent effort to contain multiple massive wildfires. French officials changed the course of the final stage of the famed "Tour de France" race amid the ongoing disaster. NBC News’ Liz Kreutz reports.
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