South-west France wildfires: more than 50,000 evacuate as blaze jumps 1km in places

The sparking of a second major wildfire in south-west France has led to the evacuation of a further 23,000 people overnight and this morning in the Landes department.

A 'massive' fire in Gironde also continues to burn, with 44,000 people being evacuated from the department.

The new blaze near Biscarosse (Landes) was declared yesterday, rapidly spreading to threaten the commune and other areas to the south. It was reportedly sparked by a vehicle and quickly spread to the outskirts of the commune, leading to 18,000 evacuations from the town and a further 5,000 from other communes and sites.

Evacuees include residents, holidaymakers at campsites and a holiday camp, as well as a nursing home.

The fire has already destroyed 2,500 hectares of forest and continues to burn this morning said the prefecture in an update, with 600 firefighters tackling it.

By the afternoon, more than 100 homes and buildings had been partially or fully destroyed due to the blaze.

It comes as a fire around 60km north originating in Saumos in the Arcachon basin (Gironde) continues to burn for a third day.

The blaze now covers at least 12,500 hectares of land, spreading rapidly due to the presence of closely-spaced pine trees in the area.

It has been dubbed a "massive fire… worse than those seen in 2022," by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine prefecture in a midday update on Friday.

"It is unpredictable, jumps distances of up to a kilometre, and is voracious," the prefecture added, with 53 homes destroyed so far and 42 firefighters injured tackling the blaze.

Following the evacuation of at least 20,000 people on Wednesday and Thursday, the Gironde prefecture ordered residents and visitors in five villages near Cap-Ferret to evacuate overnight. These were Claouey, Le Four, Les Jacquets, Petit Piquey, and Grand Piquey. Drivers were only allowed to use one road to leave (the D106) with all others closed.

Some 400 people have been evacuated by boat across the Arcachon bassin, with more evacuations taking place this morning.

Those that have been evacuated are put up in special shelters until they can return to their homes or campsites, or stay with family or friends if possible.

For those taken by boat from Cap-Ferret the SNCF is organising train services to help transport them to Bordeaux so they can remain at centres closer to their original location. 

A map showing the two fires can be seen below.

It comes after two firefighters in the department lost their lives on Tuesday (July 21) tackling a fire near Bordeaux-Mérignac airport.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for support from the EU through official aid mechanisms to help fight wildfires.

This includes the loan of six anti-fire planes and helicopters from Croatia, Portugal, Czechia, and Slovakia.

A military Airbus A400M plane, equivalent to three Canadair anti-fire planes, will be used to help tackle blazes until at least the end of July, said government spokesperson Maud Bregeon.

More fires burning across south

Elsewhere, a fire in the Var continues to burn for the fourth day, affecting around 3,700 hectares of land. Originating in Pontevès on Tuesday, the blaze spread south-east, destroying around 25 homes.

The Var prefecture confirmed on Thursday that some residents would be able to return to their homes near the blaze after conditions improved.

However strong Mistral winds in the area caused the fire to begin spreading again on Thursday evening, leading to a new round of evacuations that have continued into Friday. The fire is now once again 'contained meaning it is not actively spreading but continues to burn. 

Residents of Pontevès and nearby communes who have not been evacuated are temporarily banned from drinking tap water due to the impact of the fire. The communes are organising water bottles to be dispensed. 

Investigations into the origin of the fire are underway, with a hypothesis that the fire was started intentionally.

At least 128 people have been arrested in relation to fires, the Interior Minister said earlier in the week, and French authorities continue to remind people that the majority of blazes are caused by human error.

A blaze in Argentière-la-Bessée (Hautes-Alpes) that began on Sunday continues to burn, having so far impacted some 200 hectares of land. 

Fires continue in Corsica, including one in the mountains at Corte. It was previously believed that the fire had been contained but it now has begun to spread again. However a blaze at Albertacce has now been contained.

Between them, nearly 800 hectares of land has been burned on the island.

You can see a map of ongoing fires in France in the map below, accurate to 08:30 on Friday morning.

You can see a live map at the feuxdeforet.fr website. Red shows ongoing fires, orange fires that have been reported but not confirmed, and black recently extinguished fires.

Grim season for forest fires

France has seen non-stop blazes for several weeks, ranging from historic fires in Fontainebleau near Paris (the largest wildfire in the Île-de-France region) to major blazes across the south.

More than 12,500 fires have started since January 1, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said in an update on the situation on Wednesday, with 44,000 hectares burned (not including all hectares impacted, some of which survive a wildfire without being destroyed).

Last year’s total had already been eclipsed by mid-July, and the current damage from this year is higher than the 2022 wildfire season, which included historic fires near Bordeaux. 

The current destruction is around four times that of a typical summer, and there are fears that over 60,000 hectares could burn if similar conditions remain in place for the rest of the summer.

There are however hopes for a - brief - reprieve this weekend.

State forecaster Météo France has placed only one department, Haute-Garonne, on a red-level risk alert for blazes today, despite temperatures of 36C - 39C forecast across the south, rising to 40C in the Garonne valley.

Currently, no department has been put on the highest level for fire risks on Saturday as the arrival of storms across the south should drop temperatures and douse many areas with water.

However, early forecasts of a new vague de chaleur (period of hot weather) means more fires are likely across next week, particularly towards the end when the heat is at its most intense.