France wildfire four times Paris size may surge again amid Europe heat

A massive wildfire in France's Gironde region threatened to flare up again as crews battled heat and wind. The crisis underscored how extreme drought and rising temperatures are making southern Europe's fire seasons more dangerous.An uncontained wildfire in south-west France, now four times the size of Paris, threatened to surge again on Wednesday as crews across southern Europe battled extreme heat, drought and strong winds. The wildfire emergency also turned deadlier in Greece, where three firefighters were killed.At the peak of the crisis, about 330,000 people were driven from homes and holiday sites across France and Spain. In France, authorities said the biggest blaze in the Gironde region did not spread overnight, but warned that the respite could be short-lived as temperatures moved towards 40 degrees Celsius and winds strengthened.The major fires in France's Landes and Var regions have been halted, leaving Gironde as the country's biggest remaining wildfire battle, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said. The Gironde fire forced 220,000 people to flee at the height of the crisis, though tens of thousands have since been allowed to return. Gironde authorities also ordered 4,000 more people to leave tourist sites along the Atlantic coast on Tuesday, in what may be France's largest peacetime evacuation.At the command centre in Lege, firefighters tracked three danger zones: northern Cap-Ferret, the wooded corridor around Marcheprime, Cestas and Saint-Jean-d'Illac, and a military site near Martignas where a major outbreak forced a large deployment. More than 2,200 firefighters and over 20 aircraft remained mobilised, backed by crews from across France and other European countries. Gironde fire commander Matthieu Jomain said, "We strike quickly and strike hard at any new smoke emissions." Residents also joined the effort. At Souge, volunteers poured water along dirt tracks while a local digger driver worked through still-burning soil to stop flames from crossing back when the expected west wind arrived. In Lacanau, residents pumped water from a lake into tanks for hot spots and firefighters' cisterns. "If one day the fire starts in our neck of the woods, I know very well that all the people here would do the same for us," said Flavien Dubuch, 33, who drove from Saint-Emilion with his father to help.Investigators believe contractors working near a high-voltage line for power-grid operator Enedis may have started the fire while using a brush-cutting machine, Bordeaux prosecutor Renaud Gaudeul said. The brush-clearing work appeared to comply with regulations. Authorities said the landscape had become highly combustible as extreme heat stripped moisture from vegetation and lowered humidity, turning grass, brush and forest litter into fast-burning fuel. Meteo-France said Wednesday would be the hottest and driest day of the week, with high wildfire danger across every region of France. Drought now covers mainland France and Corsica, with soils nearing the record dryness seen in August 2022. Regional air-quality monitors also said smoke from the Gironde and Landes fires had pushed particulate pollution higher in both departments. Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas said, "The situation remains complicated. That's clear. We're not out of the woods," as she also authorised 60,000 evacuees to return to three Bordeaux suburbs untouched by fire. The contrasting movements, with thousands leaving coastal resorts while others returned with mobile phones switched on and emergency bags packed, showed how fragile the situation remained. The disruption has also spread into Bordeaux's peak tourism season. Edouard le Grix de la Salle, who runs Chateau du Grand Verdus with his brother, said official appeals to avoid the region were hurting wine tourism. "How did they not think about protecting that sector?" he told The Associated Press.At one stage, the Gironde blaze created a black thundercloud, lit from within and charged with electricity, which produced lightning, violent winds and new fires beyond the original front. Authorities said the pyrocumulonimbus was the first recorded in France.In Greece, two firefighters died on Wednesday while battling a wildfire in the Rethymno region of Crete, where about 125 firefighters were fighting flames driven by strong winds, with four helicopters and four water-dropping planes deployed. The circumstances of their deaths were not immediately clear. The fire department said they died "in the line of duty to protect the lives and property of citizens and the natural environment". A third firefighter also died on Wednesday outside the fire perimeter after tackling a separate blaze in the southern Peloponnese region.In Spain, tens of thousands of people began returning home in central parts of the country after firefighters made progress around Madrid and Avila. Evacuation orders were lifted for about 20,000 people in the Madrid region, while stay-at-home restrictions ended for another 14,000. But 10,000 people remain under evacuation orders in Castellon, where a fire was still out of control as Spain prepared for its fourth heatwave of the summer.France's Interior Ministry said more than 1,160 square kilometres have burned in the country this year. Copernicus, the European Union's climate service, said Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent and is warming at more than twice the global average. It said western Europe recorded its hottest June on record, with extreme heat and widespread dryness helping fires spread and intensify in France and Spain. Across southern Europe, the firefighting effort remained focused on containing fresh flare-ups while authorities balanced new evacuations with the gradual return of residents.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Jul 30, 2026 05:54 IST