Wildfires: Gironde blaze remains stable, new fire in Var and Fontainebleau restarts

The massive wildfire near Bordeaux remains stable today but is yet to be officially declared under control.

Authorities believe that conditions for bringing the blaze officially under control (fixé) are more favourable today, after intense heat yesterday following the start of a new heatwave saw the risk of the fire spreading further increase. 

Alongside cooler temperatures there is even a small chance of rain in the area, with Météo France issuing a storm warning for the Gironde on Thursday. 

Gironde is among nearly 50 departments placed under a yellow storm warning today, July 30, as the intense heat gives way to cooler weather in large parts of central and north-eastern France.   

This would help douse vegetation and increase air humidity, reducing the risk of fires spreading. 

The current perimeter of the fire, spreading across 42,000 hectares of land, has remained unchanged since Sunday evening, and several new fires that sprung up last night have been put under control.

Around 2,500 firefighters have been fighting the fire since it began last week, aided by 18 anti-fire aircraft and 1,500 military personnel.

Some 84,000 evacuees have been authorised to return today, less than half of the 220,000 evacuated in the last week.

The A63 between Bordeaux and Bayonne will fully reopen at 14:00 today after being closed at certain points for several days.

The prefecture has released an FAQ surrounding evacuations on its prefecture website, including questions over what affected pet owners should do.

Elsewhere, around 100 firefighters tackled the emergence of a new blaze in the Fontainebleau forest overnight.

The site of an historic blaze earlier in July, the new fire was quickly put out, with damage limited to around six hectares of land. 

A new fire began in the Var department, leading to the evacuation of around 600 people from near Brignoles. It spread to around 130 hectares of land before being brought under control.

Around 270 firefighters tackled the blaze, with three injured overnight. No civilians were harmed.

A fire near Dijon (Côte-d’Or) that also started yesterday has so far burned around 125 hectares, but has not caused any damage nor injuries. 

A map of wildfires affecting France can be seen below. Red indicates ongoing fires, orange reports of fires, and black fires that have recently been extinguished. 

You can see a live version of the map on feuxdeforet.fr.

Will weather conditions increase fire risk? 

France enters the second day of a record fourth heatwave today, however temperatures are already cooler in some places than yesterday. 

An early morning passage of rain and storms from the Atlantic coast, across northern France, should see slightly cooler temperatures in the morning before they reach their peak in the afternoon. 

These rains will linger near the Belgian and Luxembourg borders across the day.

Highs of 30C - 33C in the north, and around 32C in the south-west are above average for the season but far from the peaks seen during the previous heatwaves of June and July. 

Previously placed on heatwave warnings at the start of the week, both Gironde and Landes have seen these lifted today, as a rush of cool Atlantic air is helping keep these areas cooler than Wednesday. 

In the east, temperatures are considerably higher, 35C - 37C and rising up to 38C around Lyon. 

State forecaster Météo France has placed 21 departments on a heightened orange alert for heatwaves in the east of the country.

High temperatures in the east however mean that the risk of forest fires has increased significantly in the area.

Météo France has placed two northern departments at the highest risk for forest fires this morning (Moselle and Meurthe-et-Moselle) alongside a further 29 on a heightened risk. 

Current forecasts see this drop by Friday to only five departments on a heightened risk, largely due to the passage of rain and storms across France today.

Storm warnings

As temperatures fall across across a large portion of central France this will be accompanied by the risk of thunderstorms, with Météo France placing nearly 50 departments under a storm warning on Thursday.

The yellow storm warnings are the first level of alerts that the forecaster can put in place and signify vigilance (soyez attentif). On Thursday, these warnings cover most of the central and eastern part of the country, extending as far north-east as the Ardennes, and as far south as Lozère.

The storm warnings also include Gironde.

A storm system originating in the Charentes and Pays de la Loire regions overnight, is expected to move eastward towards the Île-de-France regions by the end of today.

Stormy weather is forecast across parts of north-east France on Thursday daytime and into the evening.

By Friday most of the storm risk will have died out, although Météo France is still forecasting warnings for parts of eastern France and for parts of the Pyrenees heading into the weekend.