Hundreds of people were forced to flee their homes after a swiftly spreading wildfire broke out in southern France on Tuesday. Almost 1,000 firefighters and water-bombing planes fought to put out the fire. According to the chief authority in the area, the fire spread over the Var region’s wooded hills, burning 1,700 hectares (4,200 acres) in a matter of hours and forcing roughly 400 families to evacuate. According to Simon Barbre, prefect for the area between Marseille and Nice, “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.”
According to him, the villages of Cotignac, Montfort-sur-Argens, and Correns were evacuated. Many of the people who fled to safety were from the nearby community of Sillans-la-Cascade and Ponteves, where the fire originated.
The French weather service Meteo-France reports that the region’s extremely dry conditions have increased the risk of forest fires. According to Barbre, aviation crews were working quickly to build fire-retardant barriers in front of the flames. Near Cotignac, an AFP reporter witnessed a massive cloud of grey smoke rising behind a flaming ridge.
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