Fires in southern France
21 August 2000
Firemen said on Sunday they were fighting to control the worst forest fires for more than a decade in the Ardeche region of southern France. Flames ravaged almost 1,700 hectares of mountainous pine forest after strong winds spread the fire that began in a fir plantation on Saturday evening. Several dozen residents were temporarily evacuated as almost 1,000 firemen and soldiers struggled to contain the fire with the help of aircraft that began dousing the blaze with water early in the morning. Overnight, 22 people were evacuated when the fire menaced a holiday camp near the village of Toissieu. A chalet was burned in the same area. During the afternoon, smaller fires started in western France, where houses were evacuated in the Loire Valley. Firemen were also struggling to put out two fires that have ravaged 500 hectares of forest around Ajaccio, the capital of the Mediterranean island of Corsica.
(Information Source: abc News, 20 August 2000)