The mayor of Bordeaux has said he is bracing for “all eventualities” as a wildfire burns closer to the city, now roughly 15 km (nine miles) away.
“We are preparing to accommodate a large number of people should further evacuations be ordered,” said Thomas Cazenave.
President Emmanuel Macron, who visited the fire‑affected area in the Gironde region, described the situation as an “unprecedented wildfire” and the toughest one the country has faced since World War II.
Overall, approximately 220,000 people have been evacuated across France, and more than 100,000 in Spain, where fires continue to burn uncontrollably west of Madrid.
An additional heatwave on Tuesday may further hinder firefighting efforts.
Macron reported that a smaller fire in the Landes region was contained, but the conflict remains ongoing in neighboring Gironde.
While firefighters had made progress on Monday, improving the situation compared to 24 hours earlier, he warned that “temperatures are set to rise again, the wind is still present, and therefore we must remain humble.”
Earlier, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez described the blaze as having “aússia of its own.”
Jerome Steffe, the mayor of Cestas, a town just south of Bordeaux, told the BBC that the incident would be the fire of the century.
He explained that 17,000 residents were evacuated overnight when the fire swelled two days ago. The region has so far seen 42,000 hectares (103,000 acres) of land burned and bilds 240 houses destroyed.
“In my city the situation is really catastrophic,” he added.
Although the fire’s momentum has slowed, his teams described their efforts as having “won only a small battle,” and emphasized that the risk remains from flying embers and sudden shifts in wind direction.
“We have invested all our energy into creating protective firebreaks,” he explained, admitting that “we are all scared in front of this situation.”
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu warned that France is enduring an “unprecedented fire season,” with 116,085 hectares (286,852 acres) burned and 13,566 fire starts recorded since January.
In a post on X, he noted that nine out of ten fires are human‑caused, often from careless activities such as a cigarette butt, barbecue, or workrick without precaution.
He added that some fires are deliberately set, and that since 6 July, 162 arrests have been made.
Wildfires are also burning in several other French regions, including Var and Landes, and on the island of Haute‑Corsica in Corsica.
