The Bordeaux airport blaze killed two firefighters as crews battled flames that officials say began as a brush fire near parking lots.
Two firefighters have died while fighting a large Bordeaux airport blaze near Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport in south-west France, officials said on Tuesday. France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told parliament he had been informed of the deaths by authorities in the Gironde department.
Nuñez said the fire was a “building fire,” while French media reported that it started as a brush fire near one of the airport parking lots. Around 100 firefighters, supported by specialist aircraft, were working to bring the blaze under control. Social media images showed passengers leaving a plane and looking at a thick cloud of smoke nearby.
The airport fire also disrupted travel. Several flights due to land at Bordeaux-Mérignac were delayed as crews continued their response. During a question-and-answer session in the French parliament, Nuñez said he would travel to Gironde “as soon as possible” to oversee the firefighting effort.
Gironde is one of several French departments hit by wildfires in recent days after a stretch of unusual and prolonged heatwaves. A new blaze was also reported on Tuesday in the south-eastern Var department. France has recorded nearly 11,000 fires since the start of the year, and President Emmanuel Macron said last week that the country had not seen so many blazes since World War Two.
Satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System shows that more than 42,000 hectares burned in France between January and mid-July, which the report says is already above the previous record set in 2022. Officials and climate experts say Europe’s warming climate is feeding hotter summers, greater strain on water supplies and more severe wildfires. For ordinary travelers and families, the takeaway is simple: extreme heat is now making major fire emergencies more frequent and more dangerous.
