France wildfires: massive blaze now 15km from Bordeaux, 220,000 evacuated

A massive blaze in south-west France continues to burn into its fifth day, reaching less than 15km from the outskirts of Bordeaux.

The fire has already impacted 42,000 hectares of land (although not all may end up being burned), putting it on course to be the most damaging of the century. 

More than 220,000 people have been evacuated from the Gironde department. Many thousands of these are currently resting at emergency shelters in Bordeaux.

The city itself is thought to be at risk of the encroaching fire although Bordeaux mayor Thomas Cazenave said there were no plans to evacuate the city on Sunday (July 26) and government spokesperson Maud Bregeon reaffirmed this on Monday morning. 

However, authorities remain ‘prudent’ over the possibility of evacuations, she said, and are working with industrial companies in the area to ensure flammable materials are safely stored away.

Those who have already been evacuated will have rehousing costs covered for up to three weeks by their insurers, following a negotiation between the government and the France assureurs (association of French insurers). 

Our article here explains how those in the area are contacted following an evacuation, even if they do not have a French telephone. 

Conditions for controlling the Gironde blaze had slightly improved on Monday morning. The mayor of Cestas (Gironde), a commune impacted by the blaze, told BFMTV that the arrival of rainfall has helped dampen some vegetation.

Around 2.5 million ‘FFP2’ ventilated facemasks have been distributed to the area for firefighters and local populations to wear to protect against smoke and dust.

The masks should not be reused or worn for more than eight hours per day when outside, and do not need to be kept on when indoors provided residents follow safety advice and keep windows closed. The masks should not be worn when sleeping. If you are in the area, contact the local mairie for information about mask distribution.

Major disruption in the area continues with most train services running south out of Bordeaux cancelled, and the A63 between Bayonne and Bordeaux closed northbound to reduce the number of people heading towards the fire.

Holidaymakers planning to head to the area have been urged to cancel trips to avoid adding strain on the city and local services in the event of more evacuations. The Gironde prefect has banned adapted holiday visits for disabled people and camping/scouting overnight stays including minors until further notice.

There are now around 2,500 firefighters tackling the blaze, which is spreading through dozens of mini-fires across the wider area, as well as 1,500 soldiers and 1,200 police officers and gendarmes, also helping carry out evacuations. 

At least 84 firefighters have been injured.

Alongside residents in the area, thousands of holidaymakers have been evacuated from tourist hotspots such as Cap-Ferret.

The fire in Gironde alone has impacted land roughly the size of the Isle of Wight, accounting for just over a third of the 115,000 hectares that have been impacted by wildfires this year in France, said Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez in an update on Sunday. 

Between 30 and 40 new fires are springing up each day, he added.

This year looks set to be the worst for wildfires in France since records began.

‘Fire thunderstorm’ makes fighting blaze difficult

Over the weekend the area was subject to a ‘pyrocumulonimbus’ - a fire thunderstorm. 
The strong winds and lightning in the area, caused by the blaze, whipped up even more fires and now there are dozens of separate blazes across the area in question. 

The interior minister said the fire was moving erratically on Sunday, making it more difficult to fight. 

Winds in the area mean that the fire has ‘jumped’ up to one kilometre between trees and vegetation, setting off dozens of new blazes but leaving some areas in between untouched.

Despite the high number of firefighters and aircraft fighting the blaze, this erratic nature means it is unlikely that significant progress will be made on fighting the fire today.

The south-west is the location of France’s largest fire on record, a 1949 blaze in the Landes forest that killed 82 people and burned 50,000 hectares.

More fires across France 

Several others that continue to burn across the country. 

A blaze near Biscarrosse (Landes) around 60km of the Gironde fire has destroyed more than 100 buildings and burned 3,600 hectares, although it is now contained by firefighters. 

Around 5,000 people who were evacuated last week have been authorised to return home, but several thousand are still unable to do so. 

A fire in the Var that has been ongoing since last Tuesday (July 21) is yet to be ‘fixé’ and continues to burn. 

Around 4,500 hectares have been burned – with three new blazes starting in the area over the weekend – and some people still unable to return home after being evacuated last week. 

“We are constantly dealing with sudden shifts in direction, flare-ups, and spot fires… [Monday] is once again a day of extreme risk, it has been that way for a week,” said Var prefect Simon Babre to BFMTV this morning. 

Mistral winds of 40km/h are set to cause further issues for the 1,000 firefighters tackling the blaze, however, there is ‘hope’ for this evening that calm conditions can provide a stable ground for the fire to be put under control, the prefect added.

Several fires continue to burn on the island of Corsica, including at Corte where a blaze has been ongoing for around two weeks, burning around 900 hectares. A new fire was declared in Biguglia on the north of the island on Saturday (July 25). 

No evacuation orders have been given, but residents have been advised to stay indoors. 

The map below shows live fires across France – red marks show active fires, orange those that have been reported and not confirmed, and black those recently extinguished. 

A live version of the map can be found at feuxdeforet.fr. 

One piece of good news for authorities is that the risk of new fires in the coming days are low, allowing resources to be focused on the current main blazes. 

State forecast Météo France has issued six departments with heightened warnings for forest fires on Monday – Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude, Hérault, Gard, Bouches-du-Rhône, and Var, down to only three on Tuesday. 

This is a result of calmer conditions and the dampening of vegetation from weekend storms. 
Note, though, that the map only shows the risk of new blazes starting and not the impact of wildfires currently – Gironde itself, for example, is not facing any warnings on the map despite the ongoing major blaze. 

A rise in temperatures at the end of the week however means a renewed risk of blazes is possible.