Once-Rainy Bordeaux Was The Scene Of Huge Wildfire Last Summer: It Burned Through The Winter
In the pine forest around Bordeaux’s famous wine region, winter usually brings a respite for nature, with thick clouds carrying misty rain from the nearby Atlantic Ocean. After a historic heat wave, an extended drought and a “monster wildfire” wreaked havoc here in southwest France last summer, that seasonal soaking would have been especially welcome. But the reprieve has yet to arrive.
A touch of rain toward the end of February ended 32 consecutive days without any significant precipitation in France, the longest period since record-keeping began in the 1950s, according to the public meteorological office. The country’s drought, though, is ongoing, hitting Bordeaux — historically among France’s rainiest parts — particularly hard. And the remnants of last summer’s monster wildfire, which ripped through the forest and forced tens of thousands to evacuate, are still burning.
Researchers and French officials say what’s known as a “zombie fire” is smoldering underground. It has spread to the site of a former lignite mine, inactive for decades but with plenty of the highly combustible mineral remaining. Near the mine, the fire is visible as plumes of smoke. In one spot, it reemerged with flames requiring the attention of emergency crews last month. There are new fires, too. Blazes in late winter or early spring are not a novelty in the region. But this year’s winter fires have surprised officials with their “unusual intensity,” said Marc Vermeulen, head of the regional fire and rescue services. Strong winds and dry soil have turned small fires into rapidly spreading blazes within minutes.
“It has already started again,” resident Martine Leveque, 67, said as she surveyed the charred ruins of her brother’s house — burned to the ground just hours after he was evacuated in August. “It’s scary,” said Leveque, staring at a melted metal box, once a fridge, and considering the prospect of worse fires to come.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/01/france-wildfire-zombie-fire-drought-mine/
