Wildfires force 167,000 to evacuate in France's Gironde as flames near Bordeaux
More than 167,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes in France's Gironde department since Wednesday, as a wildfire that started near the Arcachon bay advances toward Bordeaux, destroying tens of thousands of hectares and triggering a military and European assistance response.
Fire reaches Bordeaux's doorstep
The fire broke out on Wednesday 22 July close to the tourist bay of Arcachon on the Atlantic coast. Fueled by dry pine forests and gusty southwest winds, the flames advanced rapidly north and northeast. By Saturday, estimates of the area burned in the Gironde department ranged from 19,000 to 40,000 hectares, depending on the source; the prefecture reported that the fire was “continuing to spread north-south, fanned by a southwest wind,” though falling temperatures and rising humidity were lowering its intensity. Seven suburbs of Bordeaux were directly threatened, including Mérignac, where the city's international airport is located.
The fire continues to spread north-south, fanned by a southwest wind, but the drop in temperatures and the increase in humidity are helping to reduce its power.
Mass evacuations and emergency measures
Evacuations took place in stages as the fire advanced. Some 110,000 people had already been moved earlier in the week before a new wave of preventive orders on Friday night emptied seven additional municipalities: Le Haillan, Eysines, Mérignac, Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, Saint-Jean-d'Illac, Martignas-sur-Jalle and Saint-Aubin-de-Médoc. An extra 57,000 people were forced to leave their homes overnight, bringing the total to 167,000, according to the interior ministry. Emergency shelters were opened in Arcachon and at the Bordeaux Congress Palace.
Hospitals in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region activated the “plan blanc” emergency protocol. The government distributed 1.5 million FFP2 masks and reinforced police units to prevent looting in abandoned areas. Minister of Defence Catherine Vautrin described the situation as a severe shock.
It is a brutal, serious and unprecedented crisis.
Special attention was given to the Saint-Médard-en-Jalles industrial site, classified Seveso high-risk and operated by ArianeGroup and Roxel, where components for the European Ariane rocket and missile propellants are manufactured. Authorities deployed a protection device to prevent the flames from reaching the facility.
Military and European aid
On Saturday, 500 additional soldiers were sent to the front lines, raising the military contingent to more than 1,000 troops. The armed forces deployed the A400M military transport aircraft to drop retardant, alongside 18 aerial firefighting assets. President Emmanuel Macron, speaking after a crisis cell meeting in Paris, called the situation “very tense.” The EU Civil Protection Mechanism was activated: Portugal contributed two Air Tractor planes, Croatia sent two Canadair amphibious aircraft, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia together dispatched two Black Hawk heavy helicopters.
- Fire ignites north of Arcachon bay on Wednesday, rapidly spreading through pine forests.
- 110,000 people evacuated in the first phase as flames approach the outskirts of Bordeaux.
- Bordeaux mayor activates civil security alert; seven additional suburbs ordered to evacuate overnight.
- Total evacuees reach 167,000; government announces 500 additional soldiers, EU Civil Protection Mechanism triggered, and 1.5 million masks distributed.
A national fire calamity
The Gironde blaze is the most critical of 32 active fires in France. Across the country, 98,000 hectares have burned in 2026, a figure that triples the area lost during the same period the previous year and surpasses the total for the whole of 2022. In the neighbouring Landes department, the Biscarrosse fire rekindled along a road between Biscarrosse and Parentis, prompting the evacuation of 30,000 residents. Over 500 firefighters were battling that front under extreme conditions. The interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, noted that, in the most active sector, between 800 and 1,000 hectares were being consumed every hour, and that nine of the 54 injured firefighters required evacuation, though their condition was stable.
