Wildfires force 75,000 evacuations across France and Spain as EU sends firefighting planes

France: two major fronts, tens of thousands displaced

A fire that began on Wednesday in Saumos, Gironde, tore through the Arcachon basin and the Cap Ferret peninsula, burning 12,500 hectares by Friday noon. Authorities ordered the preventive evacuation of 44,000 people over two days, including the entire population of Cap Ferret, where residents were taken out by road and boat. A second blaze, sparked on Thursday by a vehicle near Biscarrosse in Landes, raced across 2,500 hectares and forced 23,000 people from their homes; an additional 8,000 were moved on Friday as the fire advanced southeast toward Parentis. No civilian deaths were reported, but two firefighters died and five others suffered light injuries.

We are facing an XXL fire, unpredictable.

Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas said the Arcachon fire remained out of control after breaching a containment line that crews had held for two days. Winds gusting to 80 km/h and dry thunderstorms were forecast, complicating suppression efforts. In the Var department, a fire that started on Tuesday had burned 2,500 hectares but was stable, allowing 400 evacuees to return home.

Spain: national emergency as fires near Madrid

Three simultaneous fires in the Madrid region and the neighbouring province of Ávila prompted the Spanish government to declare a national emergency on Thursday night, only the second such declaration in the country's history. Around 10,000 people were evacuated from municipalities including Villa del Prado, San Martín de Valdeiglesias and Burgohondo. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska activated the measure after the Community of Madrid warned the blazes exceeded its firefighting capacity.

Spain and neighbouring countries are living through a dramatic situation.

By Friday morning the fires remained uncontained, and central government representative Francisco Martín said the San Martín and Villa del Prado fires were about to merge and advance toward Navas del Rey. A separate fire in Guadalajara, burning for a week, had consumed 35,000 hectares and was considered the second-largest of the century in Spain. Across the country, nearly 125,000 hectares had burned since 1 January, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

EU mobilises aerial fleet

France activated the EU civil protection mechanism, and President Emmanuel Macron announced on social media that the country would quickly receive two Canadair planes from Croatia, two Air Tractors from Portugal, and two Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Portugal separately dispatched two Fire Boss amphibious aircraft and a seven-member team. Spain also triggered the mechanism, receiving two Canadairs from Greece. European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib confirmed the EU had sent three firefighting planes to France.

We will be able to count quickly on reinforcements of two Croatian Canadair amphibious planes, two Portuguese Air Tractor planes, as well as two heavy transport Black Hawk helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Climate link and outlook

A study by the World Weather Attribution group concluded that climate change, driven mainly by the burning of oil, coal and gas, had made the current drought more severe. Temperatures in some areas neared 40°C, and successive heatwaves since May had left vegetation and soils extremely dry. In Italy, dozens of vegetation fires fanned by hot winds were causing damage in Sicily, where about 100 residents and 22 clinic patients were evacuated. French authorities banned all forestry work using thermal engines in Gironde until further notice, as investigators treated the Landes fire as an accident caused by a thinning machine.