'Fire-breathing dragon' clouds worsen Europe's devastating wildfires

Tehran - BORNA - More than 325,000 people have been evacuated across both countries as massive blazes scorch forests in southwest France and central Spain near Madrid. The main fire in France's Gironde region has created a pyrocumulonimbus — a giant fire cloud that generates its own winds and lightning, which can spark new blazes.

"What is happening in Gironde is the first time this has been observed on French soil," said Eric Brocardi, spokesman for the National Firefighters Federation of France. "It is an extremely violent phenomenon that creates its own winds and changes direction constantly."

The pyrocumulonimbus cloud forms when intense heat from the fire forces air to rise rapidly in a smoke column. When the column reaches high enough altitude, moisture condenses and forms a massive thundercloud that can reach up to 15 kilometers in height and penetrate the stratosphere.

These fire clouds pose extreme dangers. They generate lightning strikes that can ignite new fires kilometers away from the main blaze, and their powerful winds cause the fire front to shift unpredictably in all directions. Firefighters on the ground described the situation as a "David-versus-Goliath scenario" with no direct way to fight the flames. "We don't know how the blaze will spread," Brocardi said. "The fire front is constantly shifting. We cannot fight it directly."

French President Emmanuel Macron held a crisis cabinet meeting on Monday as another heatwave was forecast to hit the region. More than 250,000 people have been evacuated in France alone, with 84 firefighters injured in the Gironde region since Wednesday.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited fire-hit areas in Valencia, where 15,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. Spain is battling a 77,000-hectare blaze near Madrid, which officials described as a "monster."

Scientists say climate change is making such extreme weather events more frequent and intense. Pyrocumulonimbus clouds have been observed in Australia and North America in recent years, and experts say their frequency appears to be increasing worldwide. This event is believed to be the first of its kind recorded in France.

"The firefighters have reached a point of operational impossibility that requires them to accept the need for strategic retreat," Brocardi said. "Salvation will come either from the sky — in the form of rain, though it would need to pour heavily for three days — or by finding a way to steer the fire toward a place where it will die out on its own."

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