Wildfires in France drive 250,000 people from their homes and creep
toward wine city of Bordeaux
[July 27, 2026]
By MARK CARLSON, EMMA DA SILVA and JOHN LEICESTER
LEGE-CAP FERRET, France (AP) — A raging wildfire in southwest France
forced the evacuation of 55,000 people overnight Sunday, bringing the
total forced out of their homes to a staggering 220,000 in one region
alone, as flames crept ever closer to the wine region city of Bordeaux.
Neighboring Spain oversaw its own fire evacuations on the country's east
coast.
Shifting and gusting winds, as well as arid conditions, complicated
massive efforts to limit the spread of the monster blaze burning out of
control since midweek in France's Gironde region, where Bordeaux is
located. Authorities issued overnight evacuation orders for five more
localities southwest of the historic city.
“The situation remains very unfavorable," French Interior Minister
Laurent Nunez said after what he described as “another difficult night”
for fire crews battling round-the-clock against the blaze that has
burned an area four times the size of Paris.
“The fire became extremely virulent again and unpredictable, generating
its own winds and advancing erratically toward the Bordeaux metropolitan
area," Nunez posted on X.
“It became calmer by the end of the night," the minister added.
Pope calls for prayers for victims of the ‘devastating wildfires’
At the end of his Sunday Angelus prayer, Pope Leo XIV referenced “the
devastating wildfires” in France and Spain and said: “I express my
solidarity and invite everyone to pray for those affected and for the
work of the rescue workers.”
An estimated 42,000 hectares (162 square miles) had burned in Gironde,
the region's prefecture said, much of it forests and scrubland made
tinder-dry by successive heat waves. That is seven times the area of
Manhattan island and four times the size of Paris.
Firefighters raced in trucks to fight flare-ups and planes dropping
water and retardants rotated in the smoke-filled air. Farmers delivered
water in tanks to fire crews so they could fight the flames without
interruption.
“This allows firefighters to focus on the fire,” said Theo Hernandez, a
wine grower. “It’s very strong, very virulent, it’s spreading
everywhere.”
The number of firefighters mobilized grew to 2,500, backed by 18 planes
and helicopters, including from other European nations. Soldiers have
also been called in. A giant A400M military cargo aircraft dropped
plumes of ochre-colored retardant.
The Gironde prefecture said 75 firefighters were treated for injuries.
Hundreds of homes have been destroyed.
Blaze has created virulent firestorms
In a first for France, the blaze alarmingly developed into a
self-feeding firestorm on several occasions, most recently on Saturday
night, generating lightning bolts that can start new flare-ups,
authorities said.
“It's like being confronted by a hurricane,” said Gironde fire chief
Marc Vermeulen.
Forecast high temperatures starting Tuesday could complicate the
firefighting, Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas said.
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A woman caresses her pet dog at an emergency shelter set up in the
Bordeaux Exhibition Centre in Bordeaux, France, for those that had
to leave their homes outside town due to the raging wildfires,
Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Caroline Blumberg)
Evacuees won’t be allowed back to their towns and villages until the
blaze is brought under control, she warned. She urged holiday makers
not to come to the region that has popular Atlantic beaches and some
of France’s largest woodlands.
Fire creeps toward Bordeaux but the city isn't evacuating
Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave described the blaze as being "at the
gates of the metropolitan area,” about 15 kilometers (9 miles) away
at its closest point.
But Cazenave said an evacuation of Bordeaux is not on the cards for
now. The city is home to 268,000 people.
Bordeaux turned an exhibition center into an emergency shelter,
providing cots and food for thousands of evacuees, including
hundreds of older people evacuated from care homes.
A second fire burning farther south in the Landes region has also
forced the evacuation of 36,000 people, driving the total number of
displaced people in southwest France to more than 250,000.
Fire crews have also been battling a blaze in the Var region of
southern France on the Mediterranean. Nearly 3,000 people have been
evacuated there.
Tens of thousands of people also forced out of their homes in
Spain
In Spain, wildfires burned out of control around Madrid. Evacuations
were also carried out Sunday in the Valencia region. A man was
killed Saturday in a wildfire in Manises, a Valencia suburb, marking
Spain’s first recorded death in the latest fires.
“We still have some difficult hours ahead,” Prime Minister Pedro
Sánchez said Sunday, but the night was “very positive in terms of
bringing the flames under control.”
A total of 76,000 people have been evacuated in Spain while 30,000
others have been confined to their homes, the government said.
Evacuees fretted about what they’ll find when they’re allowed to
return.
“It looked like the apocalypse. You couldn’t see anything.
Everything was covered in ash,” said Rocío Domínguez, who evacuated
with her dog, Simba, from Chapinería, west of Madrid.
“We don’t know when we get to the town, if we’ll have half the house
burned down or we’ll have it intact or we won’t have a house,” she
said. “All the clothes, all the memories, everything.”
___
Leicester reported from Paris. Associated Press journalists Jeffrey
Schaeffer in Paris; Teresa Medrano in Madrid; Alicia León in
Villaviciosa de Odón, Spain, and Maria Murru in Castel Gandolfo,
Italy, contributed to this report.
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