Firefighters battle to keep blazes away from France's Bordeaux; Macron calls crisis meeting

A firefighter walks on a road on the edge of a burning area in Ares on July 26, 2026 as a wildfire has been ravaging the forest north of the Arcachon Basin (Gironde) since July 22. The fire that has engulfed the area around the Arcachon Basin and is now threatening the outskirts of the Bordeaux metropolitan area has destroyed 42,000 hectares of “burned area,” the Gironde prefecture announced; the prefecture has evacuated a total of 220,000 people since July 22. | Photo Credit: AFP ​Firefighters battled throughout the night and ⁠into Monday (July 27, 2026) morning to tackle huge wildfires threatening the French city of Bordeaux.About 2,20,000 people have ‌been evacuated in France, while in neighbouring Spain more than 75,000 people ‌have been evacuated and a further 30,000 ‌ordered ⁠to shelter in place, authorities said ⁠over the weekend, as Europe faces an intense summer heatwave.“This is a fire of a size never seen ​before,” said Jerome Steffe, ‌mayor of Cestas, on Monday (July 27, 2026). Cestas is one of the suburbs that lies just outside the main Bordeaux city area ‌and from where thousands have had to ​be evacuated from homes and holiday residences.The blazes, which broke out last ⁠week near the Atlantic coast, are now 15 km (10 miles) away from entry points to ‌the main metropolitan area of Bordeaux.A major risk is that temperatures in Bordeaux are set to rise to 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) later this week, according to forecasts from France’s weather office.“It’s a ‌race against time before the heatwave returns,” added Steffe.President ​Emmanuel Macron’s government will discuss the wildfires situation at a cabinet meeting on ⁠Monday (July 27, 2026).So far in July, high temperatures have ⁠averaged 32.2 degrees Celsius in the Aquitaine region, which is 7.3C above ‌the month’s normal high between 1961 and 1990, according to Reuters Climate Monitor. Published - July 27, 2026 12:15 pm IST