Mega-Fire in Gironde Advances Toward Bordeaux

Overview

• The fire that began near Saumos on Wednesday, July 22 has grown into a convective, erratic mega-fire that generates its own strong winds and pyrocumulonimbus clouds.
• As of July 26 the blaze remains uncontrolled at the edge of the Bordeaux area, about 15 km from the city, and the Gironde prefecture reports roughly 42,000 hectares burned locally with national totals near 98,000 hectares.
• The prefecture ordered about 55,000 new evacuations around Bordeaux, bringing total evacuations in Gironde and the Landes to roughly 200,000–220,000 and to about 300,000 across France and Spain in linked fires.
• A large state response is in place with roughly 1,400–2,500 firefighters on the main fronts, about 1,500 military personnel, international crews, operational use of an A400M for water/retardant drops, and 1.5 million FFP2 masks sent to the region.
• Prosecutors say early evidence points to a petrol-powered brushcutting machine used near high-voltage lines as the likely origin in Saumos, several people have been arrested for endangering life over risky acts, and officials tightened penalties after two firefighters died on earlier interventions.