‘We stared into an abyss’: the heroes battling to tame France’s ‘megafire’
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- The megafire consumed 42,000 hectares (104,000 acres) of mainly forestland west of Bordeaux, forcing roughly 200,000 people from their homes — some now being allowed to return as an exhibition hall in Bordeaux begins emptying.
- Local contractor Nicolas Di Domenico said a spark from a faulty machine used by workers cleaning a high-tension cable near the village of Saumos ignited the blaze; Le Porge mayor Martial Zaninetti said the village lost 20% of its homes.
- CGT union firefighting chief Sebastien Delavoux said firefighters had warned since 2017 about France's aging aerial firefighting fleet, adding: 'This summer has shown we have reached the extreme limit of what is possible for France's firefighters.'
- Residents and officials accuse the local administration of being 'asleep at the wheel' before the fire and failing to commit sufficient resources, while President Emmanuel Macron said last week it was not yet time to 'analyse lessons to be learned' while France remained in 'full battle.'
- Drones with thermal cameras are detecting an underground 'zombie fire' — smouldering beneath the surface — that senior firefighters warn threatens new outbreaks in the coming days, weeks and months as the fight shifts from 'war of manoeuvre' to long 'war of attrition.'
- Fires elsewhere in France and Europe are compounding the strain: George and Amal Clooney evacuated their home in the Var region, while blazes continue in Fontainebleau, Corsica, Suffolk (UK), Spain and Greece, where three firefighters died in Crete.
Why it matters: The megafire has exposed bitter public contestation over France's preparedness, with the CGT union warning since 2017 about aging aerial firefighting planes and residents accusing authorities of being 'asleep at the wheel.' President Macron is deferring the political reckoning — saying it is not yet time to 'analyse lessons to be learned' — even as exhausted crews face another month of summer and an underground zombie fire.
