A wildfire in southwest France has scorched more than 11,000 acres and forced more than 10,000 people to evacuate from nearly 30 villages and towns, the French authorities said on Monday.
The blaze in the Pyrenees, a region bordering Spain, has rapidly expanded since Sunday evening. More than 2,000 firefighters joined the effort to bring it under control.
The fire “is not yet contained,” Laurent Nuñez, the French interior minister, told reporters at a news briefing in Paris on Monday morning. He added that the fire was “still progressing” and that firefighting jets were assisting efforts to suppress the flames.
Several other wildfires tore through parts of further along Spain’s Mediterranean coast over the weekend, forcing some 500 people to evacuate. The fires spread into the Sierra de Espadán Natural Park, which preserves many cork oak trees.
While some of the blazes in Spain were brought under control, the Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Emergencies warned of an extreme risk of additional forest fires as high temperatures persisted in the region into the week.
The wildfire in France is the latest consequence of several intense heat waves that have gripped Europe since May, disrupting daily life across the continent and causing numerous fatalities.
Despite the fires, the Tour de France, which began in Barcelona on Saturday and follows a route about 40 miles from active evacuation zones, will proceed as planned. However, the third leg of the tournament will be held without spectators or the traditional mileslong caravan of sponsor vehicles that usually precedes the cyclists, as most security and safety officials were deployed to combat the wildfires, Mr. Nuñez told reporters.
