Live: Massive wildfire in southwest France ‘remains under control’

Wildfire response must evolve to keep pace with climate change, EU says

The European Union’s response to wildfires needs more funding, greater focus on forest management and enhanced education about fire risk as the climate changes, the head of the bloc’s crisis ​response said.

«Climate change ‌is accelerating. So our response must evolve just as quickly,» Hadja Lahbib, the EU’s ⁠Crisis Management Commissioner, told Reuters. «We must prepare for risks before disasters strike, and not simply react afterwards.»

Lahbib said it was not enough to just purchase more firefighting equipment, and that countries ​should also be investing more of their EU funding in forest management practices that ‌reduce wildfire risk, and should better educate citizens on «what behaviour they absolutely must avoid», to reduce fire risk.

Around 90 percent of wildfires are started by human activities, such as campfires or discarded cigarettes.

Wildfire in southwest France ‘still stable’, regional authorities say

The massive wildfire that has burned some 42,000 hectares in France’s southwest Gironde region over the past week is «still stable» this morning after a second «quiet» night, according to the department’s prefecture.

The prefecture said that several flare-ups had been quickly put out.

«The area burned has not changed,» the prefecture said, while stressing that weather conditions including rising temperatures and dry winds remain «unfavourable» on Wednesday.