Bordeaux, France. A major wildfire in the Landes area west of Bordeaux remained under control on Wednesday after burning 42,000 hectares of mainly pine forest and forcing the evacuation of about 220,000 people.
Fire conditions
Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas said in a post on X at 0400 GMT that the night had been quiet and that several flare-ups had been quickly brought under control.
Fire crews, supported by European counterparts, contained the blaze after battling it for a week. Authorities warned that a fourth heatwave of the summer could make conditions more volatile.
Meteo-France forecast temperatures of up to 42 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. Dry southwesterly winds in the morning and westerly winds in the afternoon were also expected to increase the risk of flames spreading.
Evacuations and damage
The fire destroyed mainly pine forests, which become highly flammable during dry periods, and burned several hundred homes.
Authorities evacuated about 220,000 local residents and holidaymakers as the fire threatened the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast, which is accessible by only one road. Hundreds of people left the peninsula on specially chartered ferries.
Several thousand people south of the affected area were allowed to return after firefighters extinguished a smaller blaze near Biscarrosse.
Impact on Bordeaux
Flames came within 15 kilometres of the Bordeaux metropolitan area, prompting several companies on the outskirts of the historic city to close their operations as a precaution.
France is experiencing an unprecedented wildfire season, with the area burned already exceeding the previous record set in 2022.