LE LUC, France – A fire that has ravaged forests near the French Riviera for four days is slowing down as winds and hot weather subside, but more than 1,100 firefighters were still struggling to get it under control Thursday, local authorities said.
It was the latest of many wildfires scorching the Mediterranean region this summer. The French blaze has left two people dead and 27 injured and forced at least 10,000 to evacuate campgrounds, hotels and homes across the region.
The fire is “less violent and its progression has slowed,” the administration for the surrounding Var region said in a statement Thursday. Strong winds off the Mediterranean had fanned the flames but are now calming, and temperatures are dropping.
“We can be optimistic,” the head of the regional fire service, Dominique Lain, told broadcaster France-Info according to AP.
The fire has already burned 7,100 hectares (18,000 acres) of forest since it started Monday about 40 kilometers (24 miles) inland from the coastal resort of Saint-Tropez.
In the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, huge water-bombing planes could be seen swooping down to fill their bellies with water to dump across the flaming Riviera backcountry. Reinforcements to give firefighters on the ground periodic rests were coming in from elsewhere around France.
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