France is being severely ravaged by several forest fires. In the Gironde department, more than 20,000 residents and tourists have been evacuated, the AFP news agency reports. Large areas of forest are also burning in the mountains above the French Riviera.
Ann Lindgren and her husband Mattias have travelled to the mountain village of Carcès north of Marseille. That is where the house they bought in February is located and where they hope to live when they retire in a few years.
We wanted to get down here as quickly as possible and see if we could do something, she says.
The fire is believed to have started on Tuesday and has spread rapidly in the forest area north of Carcès. Several neighbouring villages have been evacuated and Ann and her husband have met some of those who have fled their homes.
"You don't know what to say to comfort them. We offered some people to stay at our house," she says.
Decisive days
The next few days are crucial. Hundreds of firefighters have been mobilised and are fighting the flames.
This is not the first fire this summer and the firefighters are so tired. We hope they can keep going and that the wind may change.
Another person who is close to the fires is Sofia Krigsman. She is on holiday on the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast, about a half-hour drive from the fire in Gironde, and says she is following the news broadcasts closely.
They are providing information about contingency plans to get away from here by boat if the fire spreads, she says.
She says she feels some concern about the situation, but that she feels safe with the contingency plans.
We have packed our bags, in case we need to leave suddenly.
Flammable liquid
Sicily in Italy is also plagued by dozens of fires that have raged for several days on the island.
More than 160 fires have also been registered in the neighbouring region of Calabria, according to AFP. The head of the local civil defence said that these were arson attacks, carried out by "malicious individuals" who, among other things, had tied rags soaked in flammable liquid to the tails of homeless cats to spread the fire.
In Spain, the majority of residents evacuated in the city of Toledo, about 70 kilometres south of Madrid, have been allowed to return home after firefighters made progress in extinguishing the fire, according to the Spanish rescue service.
