Macron rallies government response as wildfires ravage south-west France

The crisis meeting brought together senior ministers to assess the response to fires burning across several parts of the country, with the government seeking to reinforce exhausted emergency services and coordinate international assistance.

Macron was due to travel to the affected area near Bordeaux later on Monday to meet firefighters, local officials and residents, and to demonstrate government support for communities facing one of France's most serious wildfire emergencies since the Second World War.

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The blaze on the outskirts of Bordeaux has already burnt through 42,000 hectares – an area roughly twice the size of Buenos Aires – and destroyed hundreds of homes.

Although cooler temperatures, light rain and morning dew helped slow its advance overnight, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned that the fire had not yet been brought under control.

“The fire did not spread overnight,” Nuñez said, while calling for continued “caution” ahead of a new heatwave forecast to begin on Tuesday.

Temperatures are expected to rise above 40°C in parts of France, increasing the risk that the flames could regain strength and complicating efforts to secure areas already damaged by the fire. Firefighters carry out mop-up operations, extinguishing remaining hot spots and smoldering patches, in a forest near Marcheprime, some 30 km from Bordeaux, on 27 July 2026, as a wildfire rages through the forest in Gironde, southwestern France.

Government steps up response

European support is also being expanded, with the European Union announcing that nine firefighting aircraft and two helicopters would be deployed to assist French crews.

“It's a race against time,” European Commissioner for Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib told reporters, as teams worked to contain the flames before hotter and drier weather returned.

The government's handling of the crisis is expected to dominate Macron's visit, with the president due to discuss the deployment of resources and the support available to local authorities, businesses and families displaced by the fires.

The main Bordeaux-area fire has destroyed 240 homes and led to the evacuation of around 13,000 businesses. Children's summer camps have also been cancelled during the height of the holiday season.

No civilians have been killed, although around 80 firefighters have suffered minor injuries, according to the authorities.

Local officials remain concerned that the limited improvement in conditions could be temporary.

Along roads in the region, kilometres of woodland have been reduced to blackened and smouldering ground. Several houses have been destroyed, leaving behind fragments of everyday life including wheelbarrows and children's garden toys. This photograph shows a dead roe deer, in Andernos-les-Bains, some 40 km from Bordeaux, on 27 July 2026, as a wildfire rages through the forest in Gironde, southwestern France.

Communities rally around evacuees

As the authorities continue their response, residents and businesses have launched their own efforts to support those affected.

Farmers have used tractors and water tanks to help firefighters, while local families have opened their homes to evacuees staying in temporary shelters.

Fire crews are also struggling to contain a separate blaze near Biscarrosse, south of Bordeaux, which has burnt 3,600 hectares and forced 30,000 people to evacuate. Around 8,000 have since been allowed to return home.

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Other fires are burning in the Var department near Marseille, where 2,000 people have been evacuated, as well as in Corsica and the Alps.

Nuñez said wildfires had already burnt 115,000 hectares across France since the beginning of the year, warning that the country still faced a “very difficult” end to the summer.

Months of dry weather and repeated heatwaves have left vegetation and soil highly vulnerable to fire, with climate change increasing the frequency and intensity of conditions favourable to major blazes.

(With newswires)