Firefighters worked overnight and into Monday morning to contain vast wildfires that have drawn close to the city of Bordeaux, officials said. The conflagrations, which ignited last week near the Atlantic coast, forced wide-ranging evacuations and left communities on alert as a new heat spike looms.
French authorities reported about 220,000 people evacuated in the country. In neighbouring Spain, authorities said more than 75,000 people have been moved from their homes and an additional 30,000 were instructed to shelter in place over the weekend.
Jerome Steffe, the mayor of Cestas - a suburb just beyond the main Bordeaux urban area - described the scale of the fires as exceptional. "This is a fire of a size never seen before," he said on Monday. Cestas has been among the areas hardest hit, with thousands evacuated from homes and holiday residences in the suburb.
Officials say the blazes have advanced to within approximately 15 km (10 miles) of entry points to Bordeaux's main metropolitan area. Forecasters expect temperatures in Bordeaux to climb as high as 37 degrees Celsius later this week, according to France's weather office, raising concerns about conditions that can accelerate fire activity.
"It’s a race against time before the heatwave returns," Steffe added, underlining the urgency facing emergency services as they attempt to protect populated areas and hold containment lines.
President Emmanuel Macron’s government planned to address the wildfire situation during a cabinet meeting on Monday, officials said. The severe heat that has characterised July in the region has compounded the challenge: July temperatures in the Aquitaine region averaged 32.2 degrees Celsius, which is 7.3C above the month’s normal high for the 1961-1990 period, according to Reuters Climate Monitor.
As crews continue to battle the blazes, authorities are managing large-scale evacuations and shelter orders while monitoring weather forecasts that could influence how the fires evolve in the coming days.
Context and immediate developments
- Wildfires started last week near the Atlantic coast and have spread toward Bordeaux.
- About 220,000 people have been evacuated in France.
- In Spain, more than 75,000 people were evacuated and a further 30,000 ordered to shelter in place.
- Fires are roughly 15 km from entry points to Bordeaux's metropolitan area.
- Temperatures in the region have been unusually high this July and are forecast to rise further, with Bordeaux expected to reach 37 degrees Celsius later in the week.