France reports nearly 20 major wildfires as heatwave grips country

PARIS, France — PARIS — France's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said around 20 major wildfires have been detected nationwide, with six classified as emergencies and three still uncontrolled, according to Le Figaro. Speaking at a meeting of the Crisis Operations Centre, the minister said dry, hot conditions were complicating the response and that at least one firefighter had been injured. The largest fire has spread across 1,600 hectares in the eastern Pyrénées-Orientales department, prompting the evacuation of 10,000 people. Separate blazes in the southern Gard and southeastern Drôme departments have burned more than 500 and 350 hectares, respectively, while a major fire broke out near Carcassonne in the southern Aude department. Several local and regional roads, including the A9 motorway toward Spain, have been closed, and rail services between Clermont-Ferrand and Nîmes in the southern Haute-Loire area have been suspended. The fires coincide with a record heatwave across Europe, with temperatures in France reaching 40 degrees Celsius.