SerpApi.Org
Two firefighters battling an out-of-control wildfire near a French airport on Tuesday have died.
The first responders' deaths were announced by Interior Minister Laurent Nunez to lawmakers in France's National Assembly. The blaze was located in a building in Mérignac, a suburb of Bordeaux, near the city's airport.
"Two firefighters died while fighting a building fire near the airport," Nunez said in the National Assembly, according to the outlet Anadolu Agency.
Nunez told lawmakers he was awaiting on more details and would travel to the scene of the fire.
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Flames broke out around 2 p.m. local time. It reportedly started as a brush fire before getting out of control and spreading to nearby buildings.
The Bordeaux-Mérignac airport in a statement on its website said a nearby fire was causing delays to some flights. Transportation Minister Philippe Tabarot later confirmed that flights are resuming at the airport after the fire was contained.
He added that arriving and departing flights are "resuming progressively" and advised travelers to check their flights' statuses before arriving to the airport.
Video taken from a parking lot posted to social media shows gray smoke billowing into the sky and flames coming from a forested area.
The large plumes of smoke were visible across western Bordeaux.
The fire was sparked as France is facing hot temperatures and a prolonged drought that has heightened the risk of wildfires. At noon on Tuesday, Bordeaux had recorded a temperature of 90 degrees.
As a precaution on Monday, Meteo-France had put 27 departments under a high forest fire risk alert.
