European fires

You really do NOT want to know how some of the fires which were started deliberately (possibly in Italy) were actually started...

Yes it’s awful isn’t it, losing your home and neighbourhood to wildfires must be so distressing.
My DD amazed me yesterday by saying they’re thinking of booking a last minute holiday in Spain, the temperatures there!

ViceVersa

You really do NOT want to know how some of the fires which were started deliberately (possibly in Italy) were actually started...

Well I really do now that you’ve mentioned it….?

Fires in France in the summer months have always been common. On holiday in the South of France we would often see the Canadair planes scooping water from the Mediterranean to dump on the flames.
Living in France, every summer there were advertising campaigns on the television about avoiding barbecues and not throwing cigarette ends on the ground. What is new is the sheer size of the fires with tinder dry ground, winds and large forests.
It won't be back to normal for the Gironde; hundreds of properties have been destroyed. The exodus from Northern France to the South is at its height. Normally the change over of July and August holiday makers would be next weekend. It may be that the Aoûtiens will not go to their usual destinations.
It will be a disaster for the economy.

All those vineyards of Bordeaux ruined 😟.

Oreo

ViceVersa

You really do NOT want to know how some of the fires which were started deliberately (possibly in Italy) were actually started...

Well I really do now that you’ve mentioned it….?

No, you don't. Especially if you are an animal lover.

Double those Firefighters' salaries immediately. Over 70 firefighters have been injured.
The Pine forests on Bordeaux's borders seem to have acted like wood on a bonfire with Bordeaux as the Guy on the top.
Agree that advice on "how not to be careless" would be very useful to help prevent accidentally-started fires.
Don't think about the animals if you value your sanity.
Where does all that pain go ?
We're south of Bordeaux and currently greener because it rains more here. Note to self- don't complain about the rain.

Aveline

All those vineyards of Bordeaux ruined 😟.

Yep! 😫

I've heard that many rich Chinese businessmen have invested heavily in the vineyards of Bordeaux.

Labradora

Double those Firefighters' salaries immediately. Over 70 firefighters have been injured.
The Pine forests on Bordeaux's borders seem to have acted like wood on a bonfire with Bordeaux as the Guy on the top.
Agree that advice on "how not to be careless" would be very useful to help prevent accidentally-started fires.
Don't think about the animals if you value your sanity.
Where does all that pain go ?
We're south of Bordeaux and currently greener because it rains more here. Note to self- don't complain about the rain.

I think many of the sapeurs-pompiers are local volunteer firemen so many may have fears for their own villages and communes while out fighting fires on behalf of others.
French firefighters can be salaried professionals, but a large majority are volunteers
Sapeurs-pompiers professionnels are -time, salaried public servants who receive a regular monthly salary.
But Volunteers (Sapeurs-pompiers volontaires) make up roughly 80% of the French firefighting force. They are not traditional salaried employees, but they receive tax-free financial compensations and hourly allowances (indemnités horaires) for shifts, training, and call-outs.

It’s already happening in the UK. The Cairngorms in Scotland has been burning for days now, though we’ve had some rain and the firefighters are getting them under control at last. They must be exhausted, a friend’s partner has been going out day after day to firefight.

The smoke has been so bad that it reached offshore oil platforms miles out to sea, triggered their smoke & fire alarms and the platforms have had to shut down for safety reasons.

It is absolutely incredible that we are still hearing of idiots (no other word for them) lighting camp fires or disposable barbecues.

nanna8 I remember reading once that many years ago now, how the Aborigines were very successful in reducing the number of wild fires in Australia by a system of deliberate burning to create fire breaks.
Does a similar system still exist in your country?

Has anyone read whether food is being supplied to surviving wildlife - because if not they are going to starve.

Whitewavemark2

Has anyone read whether food is being supplied to surviving wildlife - because if not they are going to starve.

I read an interesting, but sad, report from the OFB (Office français de la biodiversité) that tens of thousands will die. And not just from the fire, but from the ashes which accumulate in the soil and contain heavy metals. When the rains do come, this same soil will drain towards the waters and will have a devaststing effect on all aquatic life for many years to come.

Oreo

Yes it’s awful isn’t it, losing your home and neighbourhood to wildfires must be so distressing.
My DD amazed me yesterday by saying they’re thinking of booking a last minute holiday in Spain, the temperatures there!

My dh, dd, Gdcs and some extended family, are all off to S Spain next week. I opted out even before the fires - couldn’t face the heat and the crowds.

I won’t be happy until they’re all safely back, but at least they’ll be staying very close to the sea - at least they’ll be able to get in it if any fire threatens - and thankfully they’re all competent swimmers.

Meanwhile, looks like we're in for more of these due to the weather. Time to spend money in preparation for this. More reservoirs?

One has started in Suffolk now.

Maremia

One has started in Suffolk now

DD3s In Laws have been evacuated from their holiday home nr Dunwich.

Government should tell us about plans and actions to mitigate wildfire risks in the UK.

MawsRosie

It is absolutely incredible that we are still hearing of idiots (no other word for them) lighting camp fires or disposable barbecues.

You can’t educate spam 🤦🏼‍♀️

There’s fires on Crete now . Two firefighters have tragically died .

nanna8

We are getting quite a bit of news about the awful fires in France and Spain. I hope they can get them under control soon and those evacuated can get back to some sort of normal life.
I think they need to really crack down on people starting th3 fires and a lot more publicity about how they can start accidentally through carelessness. Watching the poor people sat with their pets in big open evacuation halls I feel really sad. Hope it doesn’t happen in 5he UK. I know it will happen again nearwhere we live, it always does, but we catch them pretty quickly after having a shocking history of loss of life .

Some of those evacuated in France and Spain, have nothing left to return to. Home and business gone. The aerial pictures of the devastation are awful.

In the Scottish Highlands there;s been a large fire burning for weeks; last week a whole village was evacuated.

People living in wild rural and forested areas know perfectly well how to avoid fire risk. Here in Scotland, there are Rangers whose full time job is patrolling risk areas, teaching tourists and campers not to damage the beauty they came to see. How to stay safe. How not to die of falling over in a steppplace, as two did last week.

Some supermarkets here have stopped selling cheap disposable barbecues BECAUSE tourists take them out in the countryside for a picnic. They take bottled drinks and leave the empty glass behind, in the sun, by piles of flammable litter. They smoke. They fly candle powered hot air balloons to celebrate. They collect some dry wood for a bonfire after a "wild swim". There's no limit to the stupidity and irresponsibility of inebriated idiots on holiday, despite umpteen notices, social media warnings etc.

I remember in a bad bushfire year seeing glowing embers flying overhead and we were many kms away from the fires. The wind was picking them up and transporting them to way beyond the source. Very frightening. Sometimes by the time they tell you to evacuate it is too late and the roads become blocked with falling trees.