French firefighter dies battling Savoie Wildfire

A 22-year-old fireman died while fighting a wildfire in the Savoie region in the French ​Alps, the French interior minister said on Wednesday.

Wildfires ‌have raged across southern Europe since last week and in France have forced thousands to leave their homes.

"It was with deep ​sadness that I learnt this morning of ​the death of a young volunteer firefighter from ⁠SDIS 73, aged 22, who died whilst on duty ​after spending part of the night fighting a forest ​fire in Savoie," Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on X.

Heatwaves in France and across western Europe in May and June ​have parched vast areas of land, making them particularly ​vulnerable to wildfires this year.

Temperatures are forecast to once again hit ‌40 ⁠degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in southwest France this week.

The European Commission has pre-positioned a record 777 firefighters from 14 European countries in high-risk areas across Cyprus, Greece, ​Italy, France, Spain ​and Portugal.

Portugal ⁠and France activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism over the weekend due to ​wildfires burning simultaneously and scorching thousands of ​hectares.

The ⁠Trevillach wildfire in France's Pyrenees-Orientales has burned 4,900 hectares (12,108 acres).
It did not advance overnight, the local prefect said on ⁠X, ​allowing residents of a dozen ​villages to return home. The blaze, however, is not fully contained.

-Reuters