Almost 12,000 evacuated after wildfire on France's Mediterranean coast

Almost 12,000 people have been forced to evacuate after a new wildfire broke out in southern France, which was already battling massive blazes that have consumed swaths of forest, the Guardian reports, citing authorities.

Local authorities said the priority had been to evacuate people from tents at campsites. French holidaymakers evacuated from one campsite said they had been moved at around midnight and welcomed by volunteers at a gymnasium with mattresses, some of which were donated from a local nursery school.

The latest fire came a day after France asked for help from the rest of Europe to tackle the flames already raging in the tinder-dry south, including near the popular resort of Saint-Tropez.

“It’s an area that doubles or triples its population in summer,” said a fire service official on Wednesday of the blaze near Bormes-les-Mimosas on the Mediterranean coast.

About 3,000 of the evacuees were holidaymakers on campsites, a few of whom ended up spending the night on the beach. Local journalists photographed several people curled up in sleeping bags on the sand while smoke from fire could be seen in the distance.

The number of people on France’s Cote d’Azur swells in July and August as holidaymakers head to the beach, though the area is experiencing an exceptionally hot, dry summer that has made it especially vulnerable to fires.

Most of those evacuated were local residents, who were given shelter in local gymnasiums on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, more than 4,000 firefighters and troops backed by 19 water-bombers had already been mobilised to extinguish the flames, which have left swaths of charred earth in their wake. At least 12 firefighters have been injured and 15 police officers affected by smoke inhalation since the fires broke out on Monday, according to the authorities.

The blazes on Tuesday had devoured about 4,000 hectares (15 square miles) of land along the Mediterranean coast, in the mountainous interior and on the island of Corsica.

With strong winds and dry brush creating a dangerous mix, the government asked its European Union partners to send two extra firefighting planes – a request immediately fulfilled by Italy, according to the EU. But one union official denounced what he said was a lack of spare parts preventing all the aircraft required from being put into action.

Gerard Collomb, the interior minister, announced on Tuesday that France would be adding six more firefighting planes to its fleet, during a visit to Corsica.

A fire in La Croix-Valmer near Saint-Tropez, a resort frequented by the rich and famous, had been contained, said the local fire chief, Philippe Gambe de Vergnes, on Tuesday.