French wildfires: how are people told to evacuate? We do not have a French phone for texts

Reader Question: We do not live in France but often bring our caravan for a couple of weeks to the south-west. If there was an evacuation order how would we know? We do not have a French landline or mobile 

Firefighters have evacuated more than 200,000 residents and holidaymakers across France in recent days as a brutal wildfire season continues. 

The majority of these evacuations have taken place in south-west France following two major blazes in the pine forests, and several hundreds in the Var. Fires earlier in the year also saw evacuations in the Pyrénées-Orientales, including at campsites.

News of major evacuations can spark concern for tourists planning to visit the area, partially over whether they would be contacted in the event of a necessary evacuation.

Ultimately, it is the departmental prefect who decides to issue a major evacuation order due to wildfires. For smaller fires, mayors can issue orders independently.

There are no fixed requirements or thresholds to be met for orders to be issued, rather the prefecture works with firefighters tackling the blaze to assess if and when to give them. 

Several elements can change how rapidly orders are given, including how fast the fire is spreading, wind conditions, temperature, etc. 

In the recent Gironde fires firefighters attempted to limit the blaze by setting up tactical fires and demarcated a ‘containment’ line. Once this line was crossed and the fire was yet to be under control, they recommended evacuation of nearby areas, gradually expanding recommendations as the blaze spread. 

How do people get evacuation notices?

You do not need to register to be notified of an evacuation order. 

Once an order is given, prefectures use the FR-Alert system to warn people in the affected areas. 

This relatively new alert system uses modern internet technology and is not based on a register of contact information but rather the geo-location of nearby devices. 

This means it can contact both residents in the area as well as visitors, including foreign tourists with foreign mobile phones. 

The system uses the 4G or 5G network to send messages rapidly (although some delays have been reported in previous incidents) to anyone within the evacuation zone.

It does not send an SMS but rather uses a cell broadcast. This may come up as a message or an alert/notification on mobile phones.

However the message will not come through if the mobile phone is switched off or on flight mode, or if a non-French device has its data roaming turned off.

In some cases, messages can also be sent in English or the native language of a mobile phone device to help tourists better understand what is happening.

The message informs users of the situation, as well as the severity of the warning and instructions on what to do.

An example of the text sent out in the recent Gironde wildfire is available here. 

Prefects can also alert residents through the Système d'Alerte et d'Information des Populations (SAIP), a traditional siren system. 

While this does not have the benefit of providing specific instructions, it can help alert people who may not have a phone such as elderly residents. 

Firefighters will also attempt where possible to travel door-to-door before a fire reaches an area, telling residents to evacuate and aiding those who are vulnerable and unable to move themselves quickly enough.

While firefighters themselves do not have access to a register of vulnerable people, the local mairie or prefecture may have knowledge of vulnerable residents, for example through the heatwave register, or in smaller villages mayors may know the location of frail residents. 

Campsites and other holiday venues often receive advance evacuation notices or are evacuated by staff and firefighters on a cautionary basis as these procedures can take longer (it is more difficult to round up people who are spread out, etc). 

In some cases, they may be evacuated early and then a fire be successfully contained, allowing them to return.

Firefighters and camp staff will help organise evacuations, and in hotels staff will also help evacuate guests.

Emergency shelters set up

Following an evacuation, people are put up in temporary shelters the same as they would after other natural disasters such as floods. 

These are usually town halls, gymnasiums and sports buildings, etc – communes and local municipalities will have their own lists. 

Local authorities will provide further aid for both residents and tourists once they arrive. For example, following the recent fires in the south-west, those who evacuated Cap-Ferret via ferry to Arcachon were allowed to use SNCF trains to reach shelters in Bordeaux, closer to their original location. 

People will be able to stay in the emergency shelters until it is safe to return to their homes, which can be several days in some cases.

If you live in a wildfire hotspot, it is recommended to have an emergency ‘go bag’ ready to take during an evacuation, which includes key items such as a change of clothes, water, mobile phone charger, cash, etc. 

Both residents and visitors, however, should not dally and take time packing bags (especially not suitcases) and should leave as soon as possible.

Are holidaymakers reimbursed?

Holidaymakers will be reimbursed following an evacuation order if it was given by the prefecture or local mayor, either in full (if they had not yet left) or on a pro-rata basis for the number of nights disrupted, as stipulated in France’s Tourism Code.

However, if the campsite orders their own evacuation independent of the mairie, these nights are not guaranteed to be refunded, and it depends on company policy. 

Visits booked through a third-party booking site (such as Airbnb or Booking.com) are generally covered by company policy regarding natural disasters. 

However, exact refunds are generally decided by the property owner or manager and not the company itself.