A 21-year-old from London woke to two emergency text alerts at 4am and 6am ordering him and his family to evacuate 'by all means necessary' as wildfires tore through south-west France. Zac Morrison, on holiday in Cap Ferret with 10 relatives, said the scene was 'something like out of a movie' – gendarmes going door to door, flames reaching six storeys high, and people flocking to beaches with suitcases.
The Morrison family is among more than 220,000 people displaced by huge forest fires in south-west France and central Spain. The French military have been drafted in to help, and Spain has declared a national emergency. Despite describing the fires as a 'tragedy', a French foreign minister urged tourists not to cancel their travel plans, noting flights to Bordeaux and Madrid remain unaffected.
“British tourists flee French wildfires as 220,000 displaced; minister urges no cancellations”
After experiencing 'panic' followed by a 'well organised' evacuation of the entire peninsula, Morrison said he received four different evacuation alerts – the most recent on Friday evening – after 'we moved away from one fire to only get put into the crosshairs of another'. His family took shelter on a beach in Arcachon before a relative provided accommodation. His 11-year-old brother Nate is still coming to terms with having seen the flames.
'Other people have been sleeping in schools and warehouses and the beaches have had people just waiting for the go ahead,' Morrison told the BBC. 'There's people on the beach here with their suitcases.'
The family now awaits instructions on whether they can continue their holiday until mid-August. 'It rained last night but we are hearing that electricity may be cut out over the peninsula, especially as the ash clouds go towards Bordeaux,' Morrison said. 'I've heard about houses burning in just an hour, it's scary but sadly people here are getting used to it.'
Winds and continued heat are still fanning the flames, with some tourists reporting smelling acrid smoke like a 'bonfire' far outside the affected areas.