MADRID/ATHENS/PONTEVES, France ¨C Firefighters struggled on Tuesday to contain Spain¡¯s largest wildfire of the year, while two firefighters were killed battling a fire in southwestern France, as an extreme heat wave continued to fuel dangerous conditions across Europe, bringing drought and forecasts of severe hailstorms.
The fatalities occurred near an airport in the Gironde region, which was on high alert for wildfires, Interior Minister Laurent ?Nunez said, two weeks after the death of another firefighter in the Savoie region in the French Alps.
A separate wildfire in the Var ?department in ?southern France burned 500 hectares within hours and continued to spread in the direction of the nearby commune of Cotignac, ?local authorities said on Tuesday.
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