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France appeals to EU neighbours over Riviera and Corsica fires

It has requested two additional Canadair water bombers to add to the 19 aircraft currently battling the flames.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

France has asked its EU neighbours for more help fighting fires raging in the south-east, reports the BBC.

It has requested two additional Canadair water bombers to add to the 19 aircraft currently battling the flames.

The regional head of security Stephane Bouillon described a fire in La Croix-Valmer near Saint-Tropez, a wealthy resort, as "extremely virulent and difficult to control".

Unusually hot, dry and windy regional weather has added to the problem.

Some 3,000 hectares (11.5 sq miles) of land have burned along the Mediterranean coast, in the mountainous interior and on the island of Corsica.

In Corsica, firefighters worked overnight to tackle flames which consumed a sawmill and several vehicles, and it had been brought under control by Tuesday morning.

Hundreds of homes have been evacuated as the fires threaten resorts during the holiday season.

More than 2,000 firefighters have been deployed across the afflicted area, but one based on the mainland coast told Reuters news agency they were thinly stretched.

"The situation is not under control because we don't have enough resources. The current problem for the department is that there is another fire that has spread more than 150 hectares further north and there are two or three fires which are still active."

Read more of this report from the BBC.