LÈGE-CAP-FERRET (France) — Wildfires fanned by scorching temperatures and strong winds swept through parts of Italy, France and Spain yesterday, forcing thousands of people to flee as hundreds of firefighters backed by water-bombing planes battled the blazes.

Thousands of tourists on France’s southwestern Atlantic coast were forced out of campsites and holiday homes, while Spanish authorities ordered a town near Madrid to evacuate late Thursday because of an out-of-control fire.

The total area of land burnt so far this year in EU countries is the second largest on record, according to satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

Three firefighters have been killed as southern Europe endures more severe heat, with temperatures topping 40C in some areas.

France has invoked the EU’s civil protection mechanism to ask for help, requesting six aircraft, President Emmanuel Macron said today.

“The gendarmes came and knocked on every door, the fire was about 500 metres away — we grabbed some things and left,” said Patrick Martineau, a 69-year-old resident of Le Porge, south of the French city of Bordeaux.

France’s southeast was also being hard hit, with dozens of fires flaring up and being fanned by the mistral wind around the historic village of Cotignac — officials saying around 25 houses had been destroyed since Tuesday.

Thousands of emergency workers in Italy battled scores of fires in Sicily and in Calabria region, where a local official said arsonists had started fires by tying rags soaked in flammable liquid to the tails of stray cats to spread the flames.

One firefighter died after falling ill while battling the flames in Sicily, the interior minister said.

Around Bordeaux, more than 20,000 people — mostly tourists in campsites and holiday lets — have been evacuated since Wednesday, as a fire ravaged a seaside pine forest.

The authorities said the fire had been contained on its northerly flank but was not yet totally under control further south.

Firefighters were now battling “house by house” to protect the tourist hub of Lege-Cap-Ferret, said regional wildfire chief Marc Vermeulen.

Two firefighters died on Tuesday tackling another blaze near Bordeaux airport.