A BRIT dad and daughter were forced to flee a burning tourist hotspot on a tugboat as pinecones “exploding like grenades” spread the inferno.
Ben Sturnham had been holidaying in the idyllic Cap Ferret with Allegra, 8, and a family friend when a raging wildfire besieged the peninsula.
Ben Sturnham, 50, and daughter Allegra, 8, were forced to make a dawn dash when their holiday spot was evacuated Credit: Ben Sturnham
The pair had been enjoyed a weeklong stay with a friend on the beautiful Cap Ferret peninsula Credit: Ben Sturnham
Thousands of residents and tourists have been forced to flee the region Credit: AFP via Getty Images
‘Overwhelmed’ firefighters are engaged in a serious battle against a wildfire outside Bordeaux Credit: AP
The real estate firm partner was forced to make a desperate dawn dash after a “mushroom cloud” of acrid smoke that looked “like a tornado” engulfed the sky.
Ben, 50, told The Jattvibe: “Fire is a silent killer. There’s no bombs or explosions. It just creeps up on you.”
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Warning signs had appeared the evening before when ash began raining down on diners eating out at the local coastal haunts.
Ben said: “It smelled like someone’s lighting up a smoky barbecue.”
Read more about the wildfires
WILDFIRE INFERNOS
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OUT OF CONTROL
One dead as Brit expats among 300,000 forced to flee ‘apocalyptic’ wildfires
Fire crews are fighting an ‘erratic’ fire that is being spread by whirlwinds Credit: Reuters
At 3am the next morning, Ben was woken by his friend who shared the chilling total evacuation order and said “we’ve got to get out”.
With the only road out completely jammed, holidaymakers made their way to the pier where they queued for hours in a bid to get a boat out.
Ben said: “It felt like you could be in London at rush hour. Everyone was leaving. It felt like a mini Dunkirk.”
By an “absolute miracle”, a local tugboat taxi had arranged to pick Ben and his daughter up at 6.30am the evening before, when their situation was becoming more desperate.
In the days leading up to the evacuation, Ben noticed an unusual ‘tornado’ cloud on the horizon Credit: Ben Sturnham
Beachgoers watch on as a massive wildfire takes hold of the region Credit: AFP via Getty Images
A local restaurant owner ushered the pair past hundreds of waiting holidaymakers to board their rescue boat.
Ben admitted: “As we walked to the front, it’s just that awful feeling as a Brit where you feel like you’re jumping the queue.”
Their ride to safety, which cost €250 (£213), took around 12 minutes and ferried the dad daughter duo to the shores where they could bolt for their flight.
Now that he’s back in the UK, Ben said he didn’t realise what a “close call it was in the situation”.
He said: “We made it by hook or crook. It was a miracle because this was all lined up at the very last minute and it was literally the only route out.”
Raging blazes whipped up by whirlwinds have wreaked havoc on the French coast outside Bordeaux – with the city facing its own evacuation threats.
Thousands have been forced to flee their homes and conditions are making it increasingly tricky for “overwhelmed” firefighters to tackle the blaze.
Even more terrifying, the region’s unique vegetation has agitated conditions.
Firefighters battle a wildfire near Le Temple, outside, Bordeaux Credit: AP
A wooded area west of the city is ravaged by flames Credit: AFP
Ben said that scorched cones from pine trees along the peninsula have exploded and spread the fire.
He said: “They’re almost like grenades.
“They were saying because the ground and earth are so parched, pine cones were exploding, zooming hundreds of metres into the air and setting fire to other parts.”
Ben also paid tribute to the emergency crews fighting the inferno and the local community who kept people calm during the dawn anxiety.
He said: “The French authorities and police were really good. From what I saw early doors, they did a great job under really complicated conditions.”
But firefighters are still engaged in a tough battle against the “erratic” fire, with one official saying they are “far from having it under control”.
More than 300,000 people in France and Spain have been forced to flee their homes as fires stoked by arid, tinder-box conditions and strong winds continue to rage.
It has led the Bordeaux Council to consider a total evacuation as acrid smoke looms over the city.
A spokesperson told Jattvibe that it is “currently studying scenarios for all possible ways the fire could evolve”.
Air quality and atmospheric pollution are a major concern in the popular tourist destination, famed for its wine quality.
Le Barp, a municipality less than 20 miles from the city, has been ordered to evacuate immediately in the opposite direction.
The French military has even been deployed to help with the response.
Reinforcements are also being sent in to help firefighters clear brush and create fire breaks – land that is cleared of fuel such as plants and wood.
