Bordeaux Wildfire Climbs Closer as France Battles Fires

The Bordeaux wildfire is now nine miles from the city, and French officials are preparing for more evacuations as heat and wind make the situation harder to control. The fire in Gironde has become one of the most closely watched blazes in France, with the south-western city of Bordeaux now facing the risk of a wider evacuation response.

Thomas Cazenave, the mayor of Bordeaux, said authorities are getting ready for “all eventualities” and are preparing to house a large number of people if more evacuations are ordered. President Emmanuel Macron, who visited the fire-hit Gironde area, described the country’s situation as a “completely unprecedented wildfire” and said it was the “toughest since World War Two.” He said firefighters had made progress on Monday, but warned that hotter weather and continued wind could quickly reverse those gains.

The crisis is unfolding alongside a fresh round of severe weather across both France and Spain. Spain’s national weather service says temperatures are expected to climb above 40C in some areas and that the dangerous conditions should last until at least Sunday. It has warned of extreme fire risk as crews continue to battle some of the worst fires in the country’s history. In France, the Gironde and Landes regions are under yellow alert for a heatwave expected to peak on Wednesday, adding pressure to crews fighting very unpredictable flames.

The scale of the evacuations shows how quickly the fires have overwhelmed local communities. About 220,000 people have been moved out in France, and more than 100,000 in Spain, where fires west of Madrid are still burning uncontrolled. One smaller blaze in Landes has been contained, Macron said, but the fight in neighbouring Gironde continues, with the main concern now focused on whether changing weather conditions could push the fire further.