Authorities evacuated about 12,000 people and began moving another 8,800 as wildfires spread through France's Gironde region on July 23, 2026. Many of those affected were tourists staying at campsites around Arcachon Bay, where officials said roughly 3,400 hectares had already burned.
About 700 firefighters were deployed against the flames. Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas said 10,000 visitors were among those moved from campsites overnight, particularly around the Lège-Cap-Ferret peninsula. Further evacuations in Claouey were proceeding calmly, she said, and no injuries had been reported. Authorities closed some roads and sites in exposed forest areas.
Firefighters worked through the night while preparing for more difficult conditions. Gironde fire service chief Marc Vermeulen said rising temperatures, strengthening winds and later shifts in wind direction made the fire hard to predict. His warning came as crews sought to contain a changing perimeter without relaxing their response.
The evacuation transformed normally busy holiday areas. Yassmina de Freitas, a resident of Le Porge, described smoke thickening through the afternoon before ash and partially burned bark began falling. Law enforcement moved her family to a gymnasium in a neighbouring town at about 20:00. At the Les Pastourelles campsite in Claouey, many anxious visitors had already left, while roads and shops were unusually empty.
The Gironde emergency followed the deaths of two local firefighters earlier in the week during another blaze near Bordeaux airport. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez paid tribute to them. In the Var region of south-eastern France, some evacuated residents were permitted to return to inspect their properties, but officials warned them to limit travel because stronger winds could cause renewed ignition.
The fires formed part of a broader period of extreme heat and wildfire activity in southern Europe. West and south of Madrid, Spanish authorities ordered several thousand residents to leave communities threatened by uncontrolled fires. In Sicily, a firefighter died while tackling a blaze, and regional civil protection officials recorded more than 350 fires, including 10 major outbreaks that prompted precautionary evacuations.
Spain had recorded temperatures of at least 42C in some areas. A separate fire in Guadalajara had burned more than 35,000 hectares, although residents were being allowed home. Data cited from the European Forest Fire Information System indicated Spain had already experienced more fires in 2026 than in all of 2025.
A Copernicus Climate Change Service report released in April found that at least 95% of Europe experienced above-average annual temperatures in 2025 and identified the continent as the world's fastest warming. The immediate priority in Gironde remained moving people away from exposed forest zones and supporting crews facing volatile weather.
