France has already seen dozens of wildfires with a total of 25,000 hectares burned, among them one small commune in the French Alps - we spoke to local man Dominick Daul about the fire and its aftermath.
The wildfire in the Alpine Savoie département of south-east France hit the headlines when a volunteer firefighter died and key roads were closed, stranding thousands of tourists who had headed to the mountains for their summer holidays.
It was just one of dozens of blazes that have hit France so far this summer - including in the forest of Fontainebleau, just south of Paris, in Pyrénées-Orientales and Drôme; near Marseille and Indre.
In total, more than 25,000 hectares of land have been burnt in France since the beginning of the year, according to an estimate from the directeur général de la Sécurité civile, Julien Marion, following a recent interministerial crisis meeting.
“Since the beginning of the year, we have recorded just over 8,000 fires, for an estimated burned area exceeding 25,000 hectares,” he told journalists last week. “That’s roughly double what was measured at the same time last year.”
