Home / Disasters and Accidents / Gironde Wildfires Force Full Evacuation of Cap Ferret
Gironde Wildfires Force Full Evacuation of Cap Ferret
24 Jul
Summary
- Thousands evacuated from Cap Ferret peninsula due to raging wildfires.
- Wildfires have consumed approximately 10,000 hectares in Gironde.
- France requested EU civil protection assistance amid intense crisis.
Wildfires have forced the complete evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula in France's Gironde region. French authorities are relocating tens of thousands of people, with some escaping the encroaching flames by boat. The inferno has ravaged approximately 10,000 hectares of land.
President Emmanuel Macron has announced that France has requested aid through the European Union's civil protection mechanism, describing the crisis as "very intense." This year, the total land burned across EU countries is the second largest on record.
In the nearby Landes region, over 23,000 people were evacuated near Biscarrosse due to a separate major fire. Sweltering temperatures reaching 37C and strong winds up to 50 km/h are exacerbating the challenges.
While no casualties were reported overnight in the southwest, two firefighters tragically died earlier in the week battling a blaze near Bordeaux airport. France has already experienced over 300 wildfires this year, significantly exceeding the annual average.
