Two firefighters killed as blaze near French airport grounds flights
France has recorded hundreds of fires as a prolonged heatwave ravages the country
Konoly
Flights at a busy south-west French airport have been hit by delays due to a blaze nearby which killed two firefighters.
The firefighters had been battling a building fire in Mérignac, a suburb of Bordeaux where the city’s airport is located.
Their deaths, on Tuesday, were announced by Interior Minister Laurent Nunez in the National Assembly.
Mr Nunez said during a question-and-answer session that he was awaiting more details.
He added that he would travel to the area “as soon as possible” to oversee the firefighting efforts.
The airport said in a statement on its website that a nearby fire was causing delays to some flights.
French media reported that the fire had sparked near one of the airport’s parking lots.
It started as a brush fire, then spread to a building, the reports said.
Images shared on social media showed passengers disembarking a plane, while smoke billowed nearby.
Numerous areas of France have been hit by fires in the past weeks, as a prolonged heatwave ravages the country.
There have been nearly 11,000 fires since the beginning of 2026.
A large blaze also broke out on Tuesday in the Pontevès commune, in Var in the country’s south-east.
The PSFDF volunteer association said that 150 people had been evacuated, and 600 firefighters and other emergency personnel had been deployed.
The fire was “currently out of control and is evolving rapidly”, the association, which monitors fires across the country, said.
Last week, President Emmanuel Macron said that there had not been so many fires in the country since the Second World War.
On Sunday, a wildfire swept through towns on France's Mediterranean coast near Frejus, threatening homes and forcing the evacuation of several hamlets as strong winds and drought conditions fuelled its rapid spread.
"The fire spread extremely quickly in the context of this heatwave and extreme drought," local prefect Simon Babre told BFM TV.
The blaze had scorched about 180 hectares (445 acres) by Sunday evening, the prefect's office said.
Elsewhere in Europe, Spain's weather agency AEMET warned that temperatures would start rising again, with highs potentially reaching 42-44 C in parts of the Andalusia and La Mancha regions this week.
Forecasters also warned of an extreme wildfire risk as hot, dry air from North Africa advances across much of the country.
