Wildfires sweep southern France weeks earlier than usual, forcing thousands to evacuate

On the ground

Multiple fires ignited in southern France on Wednesday, with the largest burning out of control north of Narbonne. By Thursday morning, that fire had consumed 900 hectares of vegetation and remained uncontained. Evacuees from the village of Pouzols-Minervois described the scene.

We were evacuated yesterday afternoon and could see the flames from the road. The village was black with smoke.

Two fires north of Marseille near Rognac and Lançon-Provence burned 50 and 260 hectares respectively. The Rognac fire was brought under control, and firefighters with two water-bomber aircraft were still working the Lançon area. Vegetation dried out by the recent heatwave and wind gusts reaching 60 km/h complicated the firefighting effort.

Evacuations and damage

A new fire in Sainte-Marie-la-Mer forced the evacuation of nearly 3,000 people on Thursday evening, the fire service said. About half were taken from campsites, where dozens of mobile homes and 26 bungalows were destroyed. Earlier, 600 residents near Marseille were evacuated but were able to return after the Lançon-Provence fire was contained during the night.

Three warehouses, several trucks and one house were damaged. No injuries have been reported so far. Multiple train services between Marseille, Bordeaux and Avignon were cancelled, and several roads were closed.

Official response

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu travelled to Marseille for a crisis meeting on Thursday. He said fires started two to three weeks earlier than usual this year. Since the start of the season, about 7,000 fires have burned 8,700 hectares, with 1,200 hectares burning on Wednesday alone. Around 2,000 firefighters were deployed on Wednesday and Thursday.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez urged vigilance ahead of an expected third heatwave.

The next few days will be complicated.

Six departments along the Mediterranean are on the highest wildfire alert. Access to forests in Aude department is prohibited.

Mediterranean context

The fires in France are part of a broader heat-driven pattern across the region. In Croatia, a large fire on the island of Čiovo was triggered by lightning and spread by strong winds, though the situation later improved. Greece recorded more than 40 new wildfires in 24 hours, with high alerts in areas including Athens, Delphi, and Rhodes. A wildfire has been burning since Tuesday near the Turkish holiday region of Izmir, and authorities in Italy's Emilia-Romagna raised alert levels after the area burned by wildfires doubled in 2025.