Wildfires and Heatwave Put 28 French Regions on Orange Alert
Listen to the story
France is having big wildfires and a heatwave this summer. A heatwave is many days of very hot weather.
Now, 28 departments in east France are on orange alert. A department is like a region in France. Orange alert means the weather is dangerous.
Before, west France also had orange alert. Now that alert has stopped there.
In the Landes area, there is a big fire. Firefighters say the fire did not get much bigger in the last hours. This is good news.
But people are still worried. In a village called Garein, people had a scary night. They watched the fire come near their homes.
One person said the quiet moments make her more worried than the loud, big flames. She feels danger can return at any time.
This summer, many people in France feel stress from the heat and fires together.
Vocabulary15 words
- wildfire
- a big fire in nature that burns fast
- heatwave
- many days of very hot weather
- department
- a region in France, like a state
- orange alert
- a warning that something is dangerous
- fire
- flames that burn things
- firefighter
- a person who stops fires
- flames
- the hot orange part of a fire
- village
- a very small town
- worried
- feeling afraid something bad will happen
- quiet
- not loud; no noise
- stress
- a bad feeling from worry or pressure
- east
- one side direction, opposite of west
- west
- one side direction, opposite of east
- danger
- when something bad can happen
- summer
- the hottest season of the year
Quiz
Answer key
1. 28 2. It stopped growing much 3. True
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
France is having big _____ and a _____ this summer. A heatwave is many days of very hot weather.
Now, 28 _____ in east France are on _____ _____. A department is like a region in France.
In the Landes area, there is a big _____. _____ say the fire did not get much bigger.
In a village called Garein, people had a scary night. They watched the fire come near their homes.
One person said the _____ moments make her more worried than the loud, big _____.