Amidst the fourth wave of extreme heatwaves and strong winds in France, multiple severe wildfires have once again erupted. In the southeastern Var province, over 2500 hectares of forests were destroyed in less than a day. Near Bordeaux airport in the southwest, a bushfire claimed the lives of two firefighters and forced thousands of residents and campers to evacuate.
According to media reports, a fierce wildfire broke out near Pontevès in Var province on Tuesday, July 21, spreading rapidly over more than 2500 hectares of land. The blaze also damaged around 50 residential buildings, leading to power outages for 2300 households and the emergency evacuation of over 500 residents in the area. Currently, the fire is mostly under control.
French authorities mobilized nearly 1100 firefighters and 350 ground firefighting vehicles to combat the flames. Meanwhile, multiple large water-spraying planes, firefighting aircraft, and helicopters conducted hundreds of aerial fire retardant drops.
The situation in southwestern France is similarly dire. On Wednesday, July 22, a wildfire near Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast has engulfed over 1,400 hectares of land around the Arcachon Basin and resulted in the deaths of two firefighters. The fire is still spreading.
Local fire departments have described the intensity of the fires as “extremely rare.” Authorities have conducted precautionary evacuations of around 700 residents and 3500 campers in the Le Porge area.
Currently, the French meteorological agency predicts that some areas remain extremely dry, and shifts in wind direction could potentially reignite controlled fire lines, posing ongoing challenges for rescue efforts.
Apart from the southern disaster zones, the iconic national forest of Rambouillet near Paris was also affected by wildfires in the first two weeks of July.
According to the latest satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System, as of mid-month, the area burned by wildfires in France this year has exceeded 42,000 hectares (roughly four times the size of the Paris city center), surpassing not only last year’s total but also closely following the historical record of 66,300 hectares in 2022.