European firefighters arrived in France to tackle blazes that had burnt hundreds of square kilometres

European firefighters began arriving in France on Friday to assist the country’s struggling teams combat fires that have scorched dozens of square kilometres and ejected thousands of residents from their homes.

France Wildfires

A towering wall of flames in southwest France and official drought declarations in England serve as stark reminders that one of Europe’s hottest and driest summers in decades is far from over, according to CBS News correspondent Ramy Inocencio.

It is scorching in the famed Bordeaux wine area. Since Tuesday, the area has been turned to ash and cinder in the Gironde region and the nearby Landes due to the fire, which is France’s largest. About 10,000 individuals have had to leave their houses as a result.

Neighbors In addition to the more than 1,000 French firemen currently fighting the fire, Germany, Romania, Poland, and Austria have sent roughly 400 of their own firefighters and 100 vehicles to France.

The vast fires that ravaged the region in July flared up again about a week ago amid tinder-dry conditions, forcing crews to fight them for the second time in two months.

It is a battle between man and nature that rages day and night. This summer’s rainfall has been unusually low over most of Europe, including the south of France.

Fish in the middle Burgundy area of France scorch to a crisp on fractured riverbeds in the summer because river levels simply keep decreasing.

Just to the south, in Spain, teams of firefighters who resemble ants battle a roaring, unquenchable blaze as wisps of smoke drift over parched hillsides and then rise into soaring plumes over them.

In Portugal, more than 1,500 firefighters had been battling an inferno that was raging through a national park for almost a week, dropping water from planes and helicopters.

Hay bales have caught fire like matchsticks in parched farm fields even in England, a nation not accustomed to dealing with large wildfires, and drought conditions have compelled farmers to use some of their winter feed to keep their livestock alive.

Despite the fact that it is still only August, the grass on the ground is too dry to provide the animals the nutrition they need.

“I’ve spent my whole life here. I’m 24 years old and have never seen it this dry “Farmer and rural advisor Bizza Walters told CBS News. It makes me wonder what the farm will look like if I’m still here in 20, 30, or 40 years.

Inocencio was surrounded by brown grass as he stood in Richmond Park in London, a vast sanctuary that is home to a herd of deer three times the size of Central Park in New York.

As he went on the radio, British officials made the long-anticipated decision to officially declare droughts in vast swaths of southern, central, and eastern England.

Water Minister Steve Double issued a statement saying, “All water firms have convinced us that key supplies are still safe.”

“We are more prepared than ever before for dry spells, but we will continuously monitor the situation, including effects on farmers and the environment, and take additional measures if necessary,” the statement reads.

In several regions of England, there are already rules prohibiting the use of garden hoses.

A ray of hope is seen by forecasters as several regions across the dry European landscape are expected to see showers or possibly thunderstorms early next week.

However, that rain and whatever solace it gives will probably only be experienced in a few places.

The hot, dry weather is generally not anticipated to change very soon.