Landes wildfire burns 600 hectares near Luglon, forces 500 evacuations

Fire breaks out near Luglon

A forest fire erupted around 14:30 on Thursday, 13 August 2026, on the territory of Luglon, a village of 350 inhabitants in the Haute Lande, about 30 km north of Mont-de-Marsan. The blaze is a reprise of a fire that burned roughly 40 hectares in the same sector on the night of 25 to 26 June, caused by a lightning strike. The terrain, still fragilised by the previous blaze, provided fertile ground for the fire to spread rapidly. A first assessment counted 10 hectares burned, a figure multiplied by five within barely an hour. By early evening, Colonel Romain Moutard of Sdis-40 estimated the surface at about 100 hectares, and by 20:30 the prefecture reported 400 hectares consumed.

Evacuations and road closures

The prefecture described the situation as "unfavourable" and ordered preventive evacuations. A first evacuation targeted nearly 200 tourists at the Les Palafitos residential leisure park on the route d'Arengosse in Luglon. By midnight, 500 people had been evacuated to neighbouring communes, and the flames were within a few hundred metres of Luglon itself. Roads RD 327 and 14 were cut to traffic north and south of Luglon, with two agents stationed at each barricade. A communal road at Garein, southeast of Luglon, was also closed after a fire jump was spotted between the two communes. The mayor of Garein, Philippe Sartre, said he was growing worried as the fire approached.

Firefighting resources and weather conditions

At peak mobilisation, 280 firefighters, 40 forest fire units, 45 gendarmes, and 8 aircraft (2 Dash, 4 Canadair, 2 Air Tractor) were deployed. Some aircraft refilled at Lac d'Arjuzanx, a few kilometres from the site, while others loaded retardant at Mont-de-Marsan air base 118. Aerial operations had to cease at the legal aviation hour limit overnight. Two firefighters were injured during the afternoon. The Landes department was under an orange heatwave alert, with temperatures exceeding 40°C at Morcenx-la-Nouvelle and Mont-de-Marsan, near the affected zone. Vegetation dried out over several weeks left the massif vulnerable to fire propagation.

Officials warn of unpredictable fire

Prefect Gilles Clavreul held a press briefing around 23:30.

The evolution of the fire is still quite uncertain, since the wind changes all the time.

He added that the fire, whose origin remains unknown, progressed very quickly and generates its own energy, creating its own climate. Colonel Romain Moutard of Sdis-40 had warned earlier in the evening that the wind had shifted.

The wind has completely turned, it's heading toward the village of Luglon.

A young resident of the commune, who declined to give her name, told AFP it was hard to speak because her whole village could go up in flames. She said residents are accustomed to fires that are usually controlled quickly, but this time the Canadair were in action and the wind rose too fast.

Repeated fires across the massif

The fire comes three weeks after a blaze in Biscarrosse destroyed 3,700 hectares of forest and 200 houses and buildings in late July. At the same time, a megafire in neighbouring Gironde burned 42,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of 220,000 people before being brought under control after ten days. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is scheduled to visit Gironde on Monday with several ministers to meet the mayor of Le Porge, where 183 of 240 destroyed houses were concentrated, and discuss reconstruction with local officials and socio-economic actors.