Wildfire in France: at least 12,000 evacuated in the south-west

The precautionary measure affects six campsites and a naturist residential estate north of Cap Ferret, a heavily visited area during the summer. The fire has been burning since Wednesday near the Arcachon basin and has now spread across some 2,000 hectares.

No casualties have been reported so far, authorities said.

“We have a very dense concentration of closely spaced pines, typical of the Landes de Gascogne massif,” Captain Wilfried Schneider told French press agency AFP on Wednesday, describing the blaze as one of “rare” intensity. Vegetation in a residential neighborhood is engulfed in flames in Cotignac, southeastern France, on July 22, 2026.

According to the mayor of Le Porge, Martial Zaninetti, the fire may have been sparked by a cleaning machine on a forest track, but this has not been confirmed by local authorities.

Combustion engines

Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas said on Wednesday evening that she would ban all forestry work or other activities using combustion engines in the département, which has been placed on red alert for wildfires.

Another fire ravaged 2,500 hectares in south-east France this week.

Fast-moving wildfire in southern France forces hundreds to flee

According to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, more than 12,500 fires have broken out since the start of the year and 44,000 hectares have already burned, more than in 2022, when blazes devastated south-west France. A firefighter works to extinguish flames in the Fontainebleau forest during wildfires, in Noisy-sur-Ecole, near Paris, during a heatwave affecting large parts of France, July 13, 2026.

In recent weeks, firefighters have been dealing with daily outbreaks across the country. Intensified by repeated heatwaves and severe drought fuelled by climate disruption, the 2026 wildfire season has begun earlier than usual.

(with newswires)