Overview

• The fire has consumed about 17,000 hectares in the Aude department since igniting near Ribaute on August 5, eclipsing any French wildfire in nearly eight decades.
• Crews report that reduced overnight winds have slowed the blaze’s spread, though flames continue to burn through drought-parched forests and former vineyard firebreaks.
• Some 2,000 firefighters with water-bombing planes and helicopters are reinforcing containment lines around Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse and neighboring villages.
• Evacuation orders displaced roughly 1,500 residents and tourists, and hundreds remain barred from returning as roads and campsites stay closed.
• Government officials have opened a formal probe into the fire’s cause while President Macron and Prime Minister Bayrou oversee the nationwide emergency response.