File photo: AFPOliver Gee · 19 Aug 2016, 10:52Published: 19 Aug 2016 10:52 GMT+02:00The fire began in the early hours of Friday morning at a campsite in Oléron, off the western coast of France. It remains unknown what caused the blaze, but 1,500 campers were forced to leave the campsite from around 2.30am. Some 60 firefighters were called in to extinguish the blaze, and it wasn't until around 6.30am on Friday that campers were allowed to return. The damage was "significant", reported the France Bleu channel , and spread across roughly 500 metres squared. Story continues below…The island of Oléron, near La Rochelle in western France, is the second largest island of metropolitan France behind Corsica, and is a popular tourist destination.

Source: The Local August 19, 2016 09:00 UTC