France's Gironde fire stabilises as new Var blaze forces 2,500 evacuations
Tens of thousands of French residents are returning to the Gironde region as a massive wildfire stabilises, but a sudden flare-up in the Var region highlights the escalating climate-driven threat to European communities.
Authorities in southwestern France have allowed most of the 220,000 evacuated residents to return home after a massive wildfire near Bordeaux was stabilised. However, a separate and rapidly moving blaze has erupted in the southeastern Var region, forcing 2,500 people to flee.
The Gironde fire, which ravaged 42,000 hectares and destroyed at least 200 homes, claimed the lives of two firefighters. "The crisis isn't over, the fire isn't under control yet, but we're making progress," said Sophie Brocas, the prefect of the Gironde region. "We're coming up for air."
Overnight conditions helped authorities halt the advance of the flames that had previously threatened the city of Bordeaux. Fire crews are now focused on clearing woodland undergrowth and securing the fire's edges near the coastal dunes.
The relative calm in the southwest was shattered by a new emergency roughly 80 kilometres northeast of Marseille. Strong winds fanned the flames, which incinerated 1,000 hectares in just a few hours. "The fire is spreading, fuelled by the mistral wind," said senior provincial official Simon Babre.
Hundreds of firefighters, along with planes and helicopters, have been drafted in to battle the Var blaze. The suddenness of the fire caused immediate chaos among residents. "It was panic. We didn't get any warning. We just had time to grab our two cats and flee by car... picking up a neighbour along the way," said Emma Leray, a resident of the village of Correns.
"Our neighbours, who have vineyards, were trying to put out the flames with branches and a fire extinguisher we gave them," Leray added. The Var region is under an orange heat wave alert until Saturday midday, with temperatures reaching 38C.
In response to the heightened risk, officials have banned fuel transport and gas cooker lighters across the region until Monday morning. These restrictions add a layer of disruption to local businesses and daily life as the emergency unfolds.
Scientists noted this week that human-caused climate change has made the extreme conditions fuelling these western European infernos twice as likely in France compared to a pre-industrial climate. The shifting geography of the fires underscores a persistent, widening vulnerability for French communities and agricultural land.
