Bordeaux region wildfire forces over 200,000 evacuations

A massive forest fire that ignited on July 22 near Saumos in the Gironde department has spread across more than 30,000 hectares of southwestern France, threatening the city of Bordeaux. The blaze, described by Interior Minister Laurent Nunez as a “self‑feeding, convective fire of unprecedented magnitude,” has forced the evacuation of more than 200,000 residents, including a fresh order affecting 55,000 people in five communes (Marcheprime, Le Barp, Biganos, Mios and Cestas). By the latest count, around 222,000 evacuations have been recorded, the highest level ever seen in the Gironde.

Authorities have deployed roughly 1,400 firefighters, 1,500 military personnel and 1,700 security forces. For the first time, a French‑operated A400M transport aircraft was converted into a giant Canadair to drop fire‑retardant over the Lacanau area. The fire has already destroyed about 140 homes and burned roughly 32,700‑40,000 hectares of forest. Local officials, including Gironde Prefect Sophie Brocas, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave, warned that conditions could worsen in the coming hours and pledged to protect the city and its historic vineyards.