More than 250,000 residents have been evacuated due to a major wildfire in southwestern France.
According to the Associated Press on July 26, an additional 55,000 residents were evacuated overnight in the Gironde region, which includes Bordeaux. This brings the total number of evacuees in the area to 220,000.
A separate wildfire in the Landes region south of Gironde has also forced 36,000 residents to leave their homes this week. The total number of evacuees in southwestern France has now surpassed 250,000.
This year's repeated heatwaves have left pine forests and shrublands extremely dry, and strong winds have complicated firefighting efforts.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez stated, "The situation remains very serious," adding that the flames have intensified and become unpredictable. He noted that the wildfire is creating its own winds and spreading irregularly toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area.
As of the morning of July 26, the area burned in Gironde has increased to approximately 42,000 hectares (420 square kilometers), which is seven times the size of Manhattan and four times the area of Paris.
Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazeneuve remarked that the wildfire has approached "the threshold of the metropolitan area," indicating that the flames are about 15 kilometers from Bordeaux.
Authorities in Gironde have closed several major highways leading to and from Bordeaux. The city has converted a large exhibition center into a temporary shelter, providing cots and food for thousands of evacuees, including hundreds of elderly residents evacuated from care facilities. However, a citywide evacuation for Bordeaux, which has a population of 268,000, is not currently under consideration.
French authorities have deployed 2,500 firefighters and 18 aircraft and helicopters to contain the spread of the flames. Military personnel and firefighters from other European countries have also joined the firefighting efforts, including a modified A400M military transport aircraft.
In the southern Mediterranean coastal area of Var, a separate wildfire has prompted the evacuation of about 3,000 people. Neighboring Spain is also evacuating residents in its eastern coastal regions in response to the wildfire spread.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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