Macron announces fire in Landes region now ‘under control’

A fire that broke out on Thursday near Biscarrosse in the Landes region is now “under control”, Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday.

‘We will win this battle together,’ Macron says on visit to fire zone

French President Emmanuel Macron urged fire crews to “stay strong” as they battled Monday to bring a monster wildfire under control, warning that the fight will take time but vowing, “We will win this battle together.”

On a visit to a coordination center for the massive firefighting effort, Macron heard how the blaze in the southwest has been wildly unpredictable, transforming at times into a self-feeding fire storm. He praised fire crews who stopped the fire’s progression after successive days of spreading flames but cautioned that the battle isn’t yet won.

‘This is the most difficult situation since World War II,’ says President Macron in Gironde

“We are facing a fire unlike anything we’ve ever seen,” French President Emmanuel Macron said during his visit to the fire-hit region of Gironde on Monday.

“This is the most difficult situation since World War II,” he said, noting that more than 60,000 hectares have already burned.

• Macron vows ‘to rebuild a different kind of forest’ on visit to fire-ravaged southwest France
• Fire in France’s Bordeaux area ‘broadly stable overnight’, says local authority
• Gironde cancels holiday camp activites
• Macron to hold crisis cabinet meeting to discuss wildfires Monday morning
• France’s interior minister says monster wildfire in southwestern Gironde region has stopped growing

Macron vows ‘to rebuild a different kind of forest’ on visit to fire-ravaged southwest France

French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Monday “to rebuild a different kind of forest” as he visited an area ravaged by wildfires in southwest France, adding that “the coming weeks will be tough”.

‘Extreme conditions’ could hit Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Portugal

The EU crisis management commissioner Hadja Lahbib told AFP that its fleet of water-bombing planes was increasingly stretched due to fears they may soon be needed elsewhere.

“Extreme conditions are looming for Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, in addition to France, the Iberian Peninsula … where the situation is expected to worsen, including in Portugal starting today,” Lahbib said.

Satellite images of multiple fires ablaze in Spain

The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service captured these satellite images of the extreme fires burning across central and western Spain, which declared a state of emergency on Monday.

‘No country should have to face a disaster of this scale alone’, EU crisis commissioner says

The European Commissioner for crisis management Hadja Lahbib said Monday that the EU had sent seven planes and four helicopters from Czechia, Croatia, Germany, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden and Turkey to France, and another six planes from Greece, Italy and Turkey to Spain.

“No country should ever have to face a disaster of this scale alone,” Lahbib said. “To the people of France and Spain: Europe will stand with you until the fires are out.”

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Gendarmerie deploys ten Centaure armoured vehicles in Gironde

 The French Gendarmerie has announced it will deploy ten Centaure vehicles in Gironde to support units already engaged in fighting the region’s fires. The multipurpose armoured vehicles are designed to navigate rough terrain while clearing debris.

In pictures: Fires continue to blaze in southwestern France

Firefighters are battling blazes on multiple fronts across the south western part of France, including the massive wildfire in Gironde that has destroyed 42,000 hectares on the outskirts of Bordeaux.

This photograph shows a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 MR aircraft (R) dropping fire retardant over a forest near Marcheprime, some 30km from Bordeaux, on July 27, 2026. Photo by Alaid Jocard/AFP.

A firefighter tries to extinguish fires burning trees near Le Porge, southwestern France on July 23, 2026. Photo by Romain Perrochea/AFP.

A firefighter tries to extinguish fires burning through forest near Le Porge, southwestern France on July 23, 2026. Photo by Romain Perrochea/AFP.

This aerial view shows a damaged house in a burnt area in the town of Le Temple, following a wildfire in the Gironde Department, south-western France, on July 27, 2026. Photo by Ed Jones/AFP.

This photograph shows a dead roe deer, in Andernos-les-Bains, some 40 km from Bordeaux, on July 27, 2026, as a wildfire rages through the forest in Gironde, southwestern France. Photo by Alain Jocard/AFP.

Firefighters carry out mop-up operations, extinguishing remaining hot spots and smoldering patches, in a forest near Marcheprime, some 30 km from Bordeaux, on July 27, 2026. Photo by Alain Jocard/AFP.

‘I spent the night coughing’: Wildfire smoke leaves Bordeaux residents struggling to breathe

A dense blanket of smoke has hung over Bordeaux since last Friday as a massive wildfire burns its way through southwestern France.

As the flames creep closer to the city, FRANCE 24 met residents stunned by the scale of the disaster and fearful of what comes next.

Four more firefighters wounded overnight, bringing the total injured to 88

Four more firefighters were injured overnight as they fought to contain fires raging in the region. The number of firefighters injured now stands at 88 since the fires began in Gironde.

There have been no reported civilian casualties. Local authorities said Monday that 240 homes had so far been destroyed.

France wildfire: Local economy faces huge rebuilding and reforestation bill

While the focus still remains on containing the forest fires blazing through the Gironde department, the challenge of rebuilding and replanting has already begun.

And it is likely to be a costly one coming in, according to the government, at between 5 and 10 thousand euros a hectare.

Wildfires will be ‘catastrophic’ for wildlife, warns French minister

The damage caused to wildlife by wildfires will be “catastrophic,” warned French Minister of Ecological Transition Monique Barbut on Monday.

Raging wildfires force evacuation of over 220,000 in southwestern France

Raging wildfires have forced the evacuation of over 220,000 people from the Gironde department in southwestern France as the devastating flames continue to spread.

Thousands of evacuees are now packed into emergency shelters, with no timeline given as to when they may be able to return as firefighters battle to bring the blaze under control.

FRANCE 24’s Carys Garland reports from Bordeaux.

Fresh heatwave raises fears over wildfires and hospitals

France is expecting a new heatwave from Tuesday, raising fears of adverse conditions for firefighting efforts and further difficulties for hospitals.

“The heatwave will settle over much of the country on Tuesday July 28, peaking on Wednesday July 29,” warned Météo-France in a weather update, confirming the arrival of this new spell of hot weather, which had been deemed likely in recent days.

On Wednesday, “temperatures will continue to rise, with intense heat peaking across much of the western half of the country. Temperatures of 38°C are forecast for Paris and Tours, 36°C for Lyon and Grenoble, and peaks of 40°C in the south-west”, a region currently plagued by wildfires in Gironde and the Landes, the public agency states.

Thibault Corouge, a forecaster at Météo-France, also told AFP on Sunday that winds would be “less strong over the coming days”, although “the air will be slightly drier”.

France racing to curb wildfires before new heatwave arrives

Firefighters are seeking to take advantage of more favourable weather conditions to subdue the massive wildfires threatening the French city and wine region of Bordeaux and a number of sites in neighbouring Spain.

They were racing against the clock as another heatwave is expected to hit in both countries later this week, in what has been a blisteringly hot and ​dry summer across Western ‌Europe.

“The situation has already changed; the heat has returned and the humidity levels we had this morning have dropped,” Captain Wilfried Schneider, communications officer for the Gironde Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (SDIS 33), told AFP.

Macron heads to fire-ravaged southwest France

President Emmanuel Macron will go to an area ravaged by a forest fire in southwest France to show support to firefighters and local officials, his office said.

The fire west of the city of Bordeaux, which has ravaged 42,000 hectares (103,000 acres) of pine forest – an area larger than Detroit – and destroyed 240 homes since Wednesday, has waned after drizzle overnight but has not yet been contained, authorities said.