Var wildfire continues with strong winds raising fears of flare-ups
Gironde fire contained and evacuees can return home. 12 departments on heightened risk of fires
Firefighters continue to tackle a wildfire in the Var today (August 4) as strong wind risks further flare-ups.
Burning since Friday, the blaze near the Gros Bessillon massif is yet to be contained (‘fixé’), with reports of new minor blazes starting throughout Monday night.
The perimeter of the fire has not spread, however, and remains at 1,850 hectares and destroying more than 40 homes. No new evacuation orders were given yesterday in the area.
Today’s wind conditions will potentially cause firefighters more difficulties.
The department also remains on a heightened orange alert for heatwave conditions, with temperatures of 32C forecast.
Several restrictions remain in place in the department, including purchasing and transporting jerricans of gas and using certain rest stops on the A57 and A8 motorways.
Full information can be found on the prefecture website or official social media accounts.
#FeuxDeForêt | Mardi 4 août dans le #Var :
— Préfet du Var (@Prefet83) August 3, 2026
🔴 Risque incendie 🔥 TRÈS SÉVÈRE et FERMETURE pour 4️⃣ massifs : la Sainte-Baume, le Haut-Var, les Maures et le Centre-Var.
⛔️ Accès, circulation, promenade et travaux interdits.
▶ Les aires sur l’autoroute A57 de Lauvets, du Suvé… pic.twitter.com/CCtd6KDEEs
State forecaster Météo France has placed the department on a heightened risk of forest fires both today and tomorrow.
In its morning bulletin, the forecaster placed 12 departments on a heightened risk on Tuesday, dropping to five on Wednesday.
As a reminder, the map shows where there is a risk of fires starting, not where blazes currently appear.
Gironde evacuees return
A fire in Diois (Drôme) that began to burn yesterday has seen around 50 people evacuated as 80 hectares have burned.
It remains ongoing this morning. Drôme was the site of a major fire earlier this summer that began after a lightning strike, burning around 4,400 hectares.
Almost all of the 220,000 people evacuated from the Gironde department due to the massive wildfire have been authorised to return as the fire has officially been declared contained.
Impacting 42,000 hectares of land, the ‘megafire’ was the second most-damaging in France since the end of World War Two, and burned for nearly a dozen days.
The fire is not yet fully out however most camping sites, shops, and other tourist activities have been authorised to open today across the department, signalling a reduced risk of any reignition.
A live map of ongoing fires is available at feuxdeforet.fr with a screenshot of the situation below as of 08:30 on Tuesday.
Red signals ongoing fires, orange those reported but not confirmed, and black recently extinguished.
