Gironde wildfire: commune devastated by blaze takes legal action

Residents of a commune in Gironde devastated by this summer’s wildfires have filed their first of several ‘collective complaints’ over authorities' handling of the crisis. 

Residents of Le Porge, where 183 homes burned down during this summer’s record blaze in the department, will file several complaints ‘contre X’ (persons unknown) with the Bordeaux public prosecutor, and hundreds have added their testimonies to be included.

The complaints are for a perceived slow response to the crisis and lack of adequate post-disaster support. It will be up to the public prosecutor to assess the case based on the information given and decide whether to open an investigation, as well as who the target will be.

Specific complaints include failure to assist a person in danger, endangering the lives of others, and willful failure to initiate measures to combat a disaster – all laid out as offences in France’s Penal Code. 

Le Porge’s residents were at the heart of post-fire debates, and have argued since July’s blaze that the response to the fire was both slow and dangerous.

Many believe that resources were pulled away from the commune to protect other areas, including the wealthier areas of the Cap Ferret peninsula that are popular with tourists.

Head of Gironde fire and rescue service Marc Vermeulen has denied this, saying personnel seen moving towards Cap Ferret during the height of the blaze were doctors and other support workers, and no fire engines or crew were diverted.

Hundreds of complaints combined

With around 500 residents seeking justice, the complaints will be filed over several separately filed procedures lodged with the public prosecutor. 

Lawyer Sylvain Galinat, who is handling the residents’ complaints, plans to bundle them into batches of 50 to be filed as a collective complaint, before moving onto the next round.

His office will continue to follow this format until complaints run out, but this is not expected to happen for several weeks due to the volume of complaints received. 

“The plaintiffs' accounts are so detailed that grouping them by fifty already creates a massive file,” he said to media outlet Le Monde.

“The collective is driven by a civic-minded spirit, aiming to help bring the truth to light,” he said.

Several other communes are considering launching their own collective complaints for similar reasons.

Authorities in Le Porge will file their own complaint on top of the collective complaints from residents. 

Millions of euros in damages

Mayor of Le Porge Martial Zaninetti highlighted not only the loss of homes – 183 in a commune with less than 3,500 overall residents – but also damage to the local forest as a major post-fire issue for the commune.

He estimated the damage to the municipal forest to be around €6 million in an interview with media outlet Ici. 

“It takes 30 to 40 years to replant; these are huge losses for the municipal budget.” 

He believes that the state failed in its duty to protect citizens and questioned how “in 2026, in the world's sixth-largest economy, 183 houses could be destroyed by fire within the town's territory.” 

“The timeline reconstructed from these accounts shows that the necessary resources were either lacking or poorly deployed,” said lawyer Me Galinat.

Post-fire response criticised

On top of the debates around firefighter actions at the time of the incident, the commune's mayor has also criticised the post-fire response. 

“The state's responses are taking too long given what the residents of Le Porge are going through,” he added.

The government outlined a slew of measures intended to help communes in the south-west bounce back from the brutal summer fires, including fast-track building applications to rebuild properties that were burned down. 

However, so far the mairie has only received around 10 permits. 

“It’s not many, but it makes sense, as the insurance process takes time. Residents are facing a number of issues with insurance companies, some of which aren't playing ball. We can't clean up the sites or start demolitions yet,” the mayor said. 

Insurance companies that obstructed compensation for impacted residents were threatened with being publicly named and shamed by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu when measures were announced.

“The state's proposed approach is to allow those who wish to do so to rebuild exactly as before, while also addressing the issue of the forest edge [where homes have been built too close to the highly flammable forest]. The goal is to ensure that, in the future, houses aren't left in a position where fire could reach them more quickly.”