French Wildfires at 'Never Seen Before' Level, Prime Minister Warns
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. More than 260,000 people have fled their homes as catastrophic wildfires—which began in mid-July amid severe heatwaves—tear through France and Spain , overwhelming emergency responders and prompting officials to declare historic disaster measures.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu warned the blazes have reached "a level that has never been seen before." The crisis has been fueled by extreme heat, severe dry spells, and high winds—conditions scientists link to rising global temperatures that are lengthening fire seasons and intensifying blazes worldwide.
Newsweek has reached out to the Gironde Fire Service for comment via email on Saturday.
The majority of French evacuations have centered on the southwestern Gironde region near Bordeaux, where fast-moving flames that broke out on July 22 have forced roughly 197,000 people from their homes.
Lecornu stated on social media that the fire near Bordeaux is generating its own erratic wind patterns, creating a phenomenon specialists have "never before encountered." The blaze, which is currently about 20 miles west of the city and lost some of its intensity overnight, prompted precautionary evacuations on Friday affecting the popular Cap Ferret peninsula.
The French government is doubling its military deployment to support firefighting operations, increasing the number of soldiers from 500 to more than 1,000, alongside police and emergency resources. Officials have also dispatched 1.5 million protective masks to Gironde to combat heavy smoke.
France deployed an A400M cargo aircraft capable of dropping 20 tons of retardant to battle the flames. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told reporters on Saturday that nearly 378 square miles have burned across France this year, marking a historic record, with over 120 square miles consumed in Gironde alone.
Nuñez said Saturday that European countries, including Romania, Croatia, Portugal, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany and Switzerland, have sent personnel and equipment to help combat the wildfires, in an X post thanking their European neighbors. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a Saturday X post, "Europe stands alongside France and Spain in the face of the devastating wildfires ravaging them."
Lecornu scheduled an emergency cabinet meeting Saturday afternoon.
In neighboring Spain, where blazes erupted in mid-July, officials declared the country's first-ever national emergency over a wildfire as crews battled multiple fires near Madrid and the Ávila province
Approximately 70,000 people have been evacuated in Spain, where roughly 500 square miles have burned this year—surpassing the historical average of 385 square miles, according to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Around 2,600 firefighters and emergency personnel have been deployed.
Spanish Health Minister Mónica García issued air quality warnings for Madrid residents, advising them to stay indoors and wear protective masks. "We’ve never seen anything like this," Javier Organista, a resident of El Tiemblo west of Madrid, told the Associated Press.
Tour de France organizers announced they will shorten Sunday's final stage because of “exceptional circumstances caused by the wildfires.” The Interior Ministry is reassigning some of the security forces that had been scheduled to police the Tour de France's final stage so they can help with evacuations, public safety, traffic management and emergency response in areas threatened by the fires.
"In a spirit of national solidarity with the areas and communities affected, it was decided to adapt the route for the final stage from Thoiry to Paris," the organizers said in a statement.
The final stage was originally scheduled to cover about 83 miles but will instead be shortened to about 55 miles.
The nearly monthlong Tour de France began July 4 and is scheduled to conclude Sunday after 21 stages.
Meanwhile, authorities and firefighting crews across Europe are closely monitoring weather conditions, hoping lighter winds and rainfall will help slow the fires' spread and aid containment efforts.
Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Steve Mollman and Anthony Murray .
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