Lahap Forest Fire 1,700 Acres in France, Power Outage

JAKARTA - Forest fires have burned 1,700 hectares of land in the Var Department (district level / city), southeast France, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people, and cutting off electricity to 2,300 households.

"As of last night, the fire had devoured 1,700 hectares of land," the prefecture said, as reported by ANTARA from Sputnik, Wednesday, July 22.

Around 400 people have been evacuated in the communes or districts of Ponteves, Cotignac, Sillans-la-Cascade, Correns, and Montfort-sur-Argens. Power supplies were cut off to 2,300 households, mainly in Cotignac.

The statement also said that around 900 firefighters, including from other departments, 350 vehicles, and 60 members of the gendarmerie or the equivalent of the Brimob Corps had been deployed to put out the fire.

France is hit by forest fires amid extreme heat. President Emmanuel Macron said the country has experienced the highest number of forest fires in its history this summer since the end of World War II.

At the end of June, the weather service issued high temperature warnings in 72 of 96 departments, setting a new record, with temperatures approaching 40°C and in some places it was more than that.