SIXTY DEAD IN FIRE-DEVASTATED AREAS OF FRANCE

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 August 1949, Page 5

SIXTY DEAD IN FIRE-DEVASTATED AREAS OF FRANCE

PARIS, August 21 (Rec. 10 a.m.).— The official death toll of the forest fires in south-western France was given as 60 in a Ministry of the Interior communique published in Paris tonight. Paris newspapers, however, claimed that the deaths were nearer 100. The communique said . that 42 civilians and 18 soldiers died fighting the fires last week. The great forest fire outside Bordeaux, in which a number of people lost their lives and many thousands of acres have been devastated, is now under control. Several thousand firemen, troops and volunteers, who have been fighting the* blaze for three days, were helped today by a drop in the wind, which had farmed the flames. The fire-swept area where casualties occurred lies from.’ seven to 25 miles "south and south-west of Bordeaux in a country of rolling vineyards, heath and pine woods. Many country houses of Bordeaux people, chateaux belonging to vineyard owners and wealthy estates are in the fire-devastated area. Hundreds of Red Cross and rescue squads are combing the area in search of victims, most of whom were marooned by the speed of the flames or asphyxiated by smoke.