BBC presenter Joanna Kent has revealed she had just ’30 minutes to flee’ after she and her family found themselves caught up in the wild fires currently ripping through south-west France.
The journalist, who is a regular host on BBC South Today, was based in the Cap Ferret Peninsula and is one of 270,000 people that have been forced to evacuate amid the ongoing blazes.
BBC South Today presenter Joanna Kent has been caught up in the wild fires currently blazing through south-west France Credit: BBC Breakfast
The journalist appeared on BBC Breakfast and revealed she and her family had just 30 minutes to evacuate their campsite after receiving an alert from authorities Credit: BBC Breakfast
Appearing on BBC Breakfast this morning (July 25), Joanna told Naga Munchetty the ‘scary’ ordeal she and her family have been through as they holiday across the channel.
“We’re well away from it now,” she began, confirming their safety. “We’ve relocated to the Loire Valley and there’s nothing going on here but the Cap Ferret Peninsula is somewhere we’ve been to before and there is a lot of pine forest there, it’s been exceptionally dry and there is a known risk of these forest fires.”
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The TV star said they first became aware of the fires on Wednesday after seeing a “huge plume of smoke rising up into the sky” and “ash coming down”.
“We went down to the local beach that night, and you could just see this wall of orange flame and an apocalyptic scene flaring up with every gust of the wind,” she added.
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Joanna confirmed she and her family were now safe and in the Loire Valley Credit: BBC Breakfast
She’s been a regular fixture on BBC South Today since joining back in 2004 Credit: BBC
“My 10-year-old was pretty scared,” she continued as they waited for updates from local authorities. “He packed a bag that night and was worried about being evacuated in the middle of the night.”
Joanna then revealed when the evacuation call came, they had just half an hour to pack and leave.
“Luckily for us, it happened sort of just before lunchtime the following day,” she said. “So it was a bit of a better time to get that sort of 30 minutes to pack your bags and go.”
Naga said that many viewers will be thinking “these are places we go on holiday” and that the wild fires were a “nightmare”.
Thousands of holidaymakers were forced to flee from a French holiday hotspot Credit: EPA
BBC Breakfast’s Naga Munchetty called the wildfires a ‘nightmare’ Credit: BBC Breakfast
Asked what local people were saying about the blaze, Joanna replied: “Well, I think people were just, I think the forest fire is a known risk, but I don’t think anything like this has happened in exactly that area.
“Back in 2022, there was a pretty devastating fire… a couple of campsites were destroyed then.
“So, I mean, on the atmosphere on the campsite, most people were pretty calm, but we did see some people looking quite panicked. They were sprinting back to their tents and caravans, trying to get things packed up.
“We, luckily, we were in accommodation there, so we didn’t have to sort of be packing up a load of camping gear. We just chucked stuff in bags.”
Brit tourists were warned to evacuate as a monster wildfire engulfed the resort and massive explosions sent horses bolting along the only road off the peninsula.
France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said more than 14,000 hectares have been claimed by the blaze, while around 50 firefighters were injured yesterday alone.
Wild fires are also currently playing out in Spain too where the country has declared a state of emergency, with more than 100,000 hectares – roughly the size of Berlin or Hong Kong – being scorched so far this year.
