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LEGE-CAP FERRET, France – More than 250,000 people have been evacuated as fast-moving wildfires continue to burn across parts of France and Spain, prompting large-scale emergency operations, international assistance and military deployments as authorities warned the crisis could persist.
The fires have displaced communities across southern Europe, including about 70,000 evacuees in central Spain. Spanish authorities also confirmed the first reported fatality linked to the fires after a man died in Manises, in the Valencia region.
The widespread evacuations and coordinated international response highlight the growing impact of increasingly severe wildfire seasons across the Mediterranean.
France Deploys Military Resources to Protect Gironde
France expanded its firefighting response on Saturday by deploying an Airbus A400M military transport aircraft modified for aerial firefighting, dropping large quantities of flame retardant over drought-stricken forests in the southwest.
Authorities remain concerned that shifting winds could push the Gironde wildfire closer to Bordeaux, one of France’s largest cities and the center of a globally significant wine-producing region.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said firefighters were strengthening containment lines by digging trenches, deploying flame retardants and carrying out additional defensive operations. He warned the firefighting effort would likely be “long and very difficult.”
The Gironde prefecture said the blaze intensified into what officials described as a “firestorm” on Friday after igniting earlier in the week. Although firefighters have slowed its advance, authorities cautioned that the wildfire remains highly dangerous.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the fire became so intense that it generated its own weather conditions, including powerful local winds, underscoring its exceptional strength.
The French government deployed hundreds of soldiers to reinforce firefighting operations and distributed 1.5 million protective face masks to residents affected by heavy smoke.
Officials said approximately 140 homes have been destroyed in the Gironde region.
Wildfires Disrupt Tour de France and Public Services
The wildfire emergency has also affected one of France’s biggest sporting events.
Tour de France organizers and Paris police announced that Sunday’s final stage would begin directly in Paris instead of Thoiry, shortening the route from 133 kilometers (82 miles) to 89 kilometers (55 miles).
Officials said part of the race’s security personnel would instead assist emergency operations in wildfire-affected regions.
In Bordeaux, authorities converted an exhibition center into a temporary shelter capable of housing thousands of evacuees.
The city’s airport remained open, although bus and tram services were suspended as emergency operations continued.
Residents in threatened communities received evacuation orders through emergency mobile phone alerts.
Spain Continues Large-Scale Firefighting Operations
Spain has deployed approximately 2,600 firefighters, police officers and emergency personnel, supported by 19 water-dropping aircraft and helicopters, to battle two major wildfires west of Madrid.
Firefighters said the blazes have spread so rapidly and intensely that direct attacks on the flames were often impossible.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said approximately 130,000 hectares of forest have already burned in Spain this year, exceeding the country’s average annual total of about 100,000 hectares over the past decade.
After visiting an emergency command center west of Madrid, Sánchez said improving weather conditions had created “a window of opportunity” for firefighters to strengthen containment efforts.
Madrid’s regional government later reported that lower temperatures and lighter winds had reduced the fires’ intensity.
Residents described rapidly changing conditions that left communities with little time to evacuate.
Javier Organista, a resident of El Tiemblo, said neighbors worked together to protect their community as flames surrounded the town and threatened to cut off escape routes.
European Nations Coordinate Emergency Assistance
The wildfires have prompted one of the largest coordinated firefighting responses in recent years.
Authorities said Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Slovakia, Germany and Switzerland have either deployed or pledged aircraft and helicopters to assist operations in France and Spain.
Officials in both countries said prolonged drought and repeated heat waves left forests and scrubland exceptionally dry, allowing fires to spread rapidly once ignited.
Emergency crews continue working to contain multiple active fire fronts while authorities monitor weather conditions that could significantly influence the direction and intensity of the blazes in the coming days.
This report is based on reporting by The Associated Press.
