Wildfire now nine miles away from French city of Bordeaux, mayor warns
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- A wildfire burning in Gironde is approximately 15km (nine miles) from Bordeaux, prompting Mayor Thomas Cazenave to say the city is "preparing to accommodate a large number of people" should further evacuations be ordered.
- Gironde firefighters are battling an "unprecedented" situation and a fire that "has a life of its own," according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, as crews work to build protective firebreaks.
- Cestas Mayor Jérôme Steffe told the BBC 17,000 residents were evacuated overnight; the region has seen 42,000 hectares (103,000 acres) burned and 240 houses destroyed, calling it "the fire of the century."
- France has recorded 13,566 fire starts and 116,085 hectares (286,852 acres) burned since January, with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu stating nine in ten fires are human-caused and 162 arrests have been made since 6 July.
- Neighbouring Spain entered its fifth day of national emergency as fires west of Madrid have scorched more than 27,000 hectares and forced 100,000+ evacuations, per BBC Verify satellite imagery.
- President Emmanuel Macron is visiting fire-ravaged areas in Gironde to support crews, while another intense heatwave forecast for Tuesday could further hamper firefighting across multiple French regions including Var, Landes and Haute-Corse.
- Climate change is driving the crisis, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service—Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average, fueling more intense heatwaves and wildfires.
Why it matters: With 220,000 evacuated and 9 in 10 fires human-caused—162 arrests for arson since July 6—France's record fire season exposes both climate vulnerability and a growing enforcement crisis, as a forecast Tuesday heatwave threatens to stretch already-strained emergency services across multiple regions.
