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Residents and vacationers in the south of France whose homes were put at risk by wildfires will be forced to stay once more in temporary shelters on overnight on July 26, as firefighters continue to fight the blazes.
Wildfires | South of France

Wildfires force evacuation of 12,000 in Southeast France


Staff Writers

Thursday, July 27, 2017, 1:32 PM - Residents and vacationers in the south of France whose homes were put at risk by wildfires this week were forced to stay in shelters, as firefighters continue to fight the blazes.

Firefighters evacuated around 12,000 campers and local residents after a wildfire broke out on France's tourist-thronged Riviera Coast overnight on July 25 to July 26, according to Sky News.

"We stayed from about 2 a.m. until about 7 a.m. and then we were thinking we could probably make our way back to the plot," Oliver Williams, a holidaymaker evacuated to a nearby beach, told Sky. "But we were told we weren't allowed to go back because the Canadairs were about to fly over and drop water on to the fire."

The blaze was the latest of several wind-whipped fires that are ravaging forest and scrubland on the hills and slopes that spill into the Mediterranean sea between the Marseilles and the city of Nice in the southeastern corner of France. 

Hundreds of firefighters fought the blaze with planes and helicopters dropping tonnes of water on the tinder box hills where fires regularly break out in summer time, often as a result of a carelessly discarded cigarette butt. 

Serge Lavialle, head of firefighter rescue operations from Brignoles, said that the teams were concentrating on the left side of the blaze where they could see some potential overflowing flames in order to prevent a spread down to the town of Bormes.

Mayor of Bormes-les-Mimosas, Francois Arizzi, said that he was satisfied with how people were reacting to the situation but said it was impossible at this stage to allow them to return to their homes.

With files from Reuters.

Watch below: Sobering videos emerge as residents and tourists are forced to evacuate

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