France declares Gironde megafire extinguished after scorching 42,000 hectares

Declaration of extinction

On September 28, 2026, the prefecture of Gironde officially declared the Saumos wildfire extinguished, ending a firefighting effort that lasted two months and six days. The fire burned across 42,000 hectares within the Landes de Gascogne forest massif, with 37,296 hectares destroyed. State services confirmed that the disaster resulted in zero human casualties throughout the 69 days of active burning and smouldering. Property damage was concentrated in coastal and forest settlements, where the blaze destroyed 252 houses and buildings while emergency responders protected 2,473 threatened structures. In the municipality of Le Porge, fire destroyed more than 180 out of 250 residences.

Fire progression and emergency mobilization

The blaze ignited just after midday on July 22 in Saumos before spreading quickly across pine woodland. Extreme convective heat produced a pyrocumulonimbus storm cloud, threatening the Cap-Ferret peninsula and outer districts of Bordeaux. Civil security personnel carried out precautionary evacuations for approximately 224,000 residents across 23 municipalities. Emergency crews managed to halt the forward spread of the fire on August 1, when it was classified as contained, though subterranean fumerons continued to burn beneath the topsoil for weeks. The deployment mobilized 3,300 firefighters from across France, operating alongside police officers, gendarmes, military units, foresters, farmers, and civilian volunteers.

Reconstruction efforts and financial aid

Departmental authorities held a formal debriefing session on September 28 to organize recovery steps across affected communities. Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas announced the appointment of sub-prefect Jeanne-Judith Abomo-Tutard, who begins a three-year mandate to oversee municipal reconstruction aid. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu had previously announced an assistance package approaching 100 million euros during an August visit to the area. Out of those planned funds, 10 million euros have been distributed across 15 communes, while the department has requested state reimbursement for 11 million euros in emergency operational expenditures. Gironde departmental council president Jean-Luc Gleyze noted that road crews must now fell over 80,000 fire-damaged trees to ensure transit safety.

“Welcome to the world after.”

Broader wildfire season context

The Saumos fire marks the largest land area traversed by an individual wildfire in France since a 1949 blaze in the Landes de Gascogne burned 50,000 hectares. Forestry workers were prohibited from entering the scorched zones until September 8, when timber removal operations began to mitigate falling tree hazards and insect infestations. Across mainland France, approximately 98,000 hectares have burned this year across 21,000 individual fire ignitions, a total five times above the 20-year annual average and the highest aggregate since 1976. During the response, departmental personnel served 7,500 meals, opened four middle schools for emergency personnel, and placed 251 households into temporary accommodation programs.

1949 Landes de Gascogne fire50,000

2026 Saumos fire (traversed)42,000

2026 Saumos fire (destroyed)37,296

1949 Landes de Gascogne fire

50000 hectares

2026 Saumos fire (traversed)

42000 hectares

2026 Saumos fire (destroyed)

37296 hectares

Data from the article text