12,000 Evacuated as Wildfires Ravage South-West France, Gironde Region
Last update: July 23, 2026
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It’s a terrifying situation in south-west France, as thousands of holidaymakers and locals are being forced to flee raging wildfires that are tearing through forests in Gironde.
About 12,000 people have been evacuated from the south-west of France, and authorities are moving another 8,800 as wildfires continue to spread across the Gironde region.
Cbinews.tv reports that the local prefect, Sophie Brocas, confirmed that a staggering 2,400 hectares of land have already been destroyed around the Bay of Arcachon.
Many of those who had to leave overnight were holidaymakers staying at local campsites on the Lège-Cap-Ferret peninsula, and the latest evacuations have also targeted campsites as a precautionary measure.
Wildfires have also broken out in Spain and Italy in recent days. Residents were evacuated near Toledo, south of Madrid, while a firefighter tragically died after falling ill while battling a blaze in Sicily.
Giving an update, Brocas said 10,000 visitors were among those evacuated from campsites overnight, and the latest evacuations were going ahead “calmly” in the village of Claouey, on the shore of Arcachon Bay.
She confirmed no injuries have been reported so far, though some sites and roads in exposed forest areas have been shut.
“The work was relentless all night,” said Gironde fire service chief Marc Vermeulen, who warned that temperatures were rising and the wind was getting stronger.
“It’ll peak at 20:00. Then we’ll have to deal with highly variable winds, so we’re currently tackling a fire that is going to be difficult to predict, and that’s why we cannot relax our guard.”
It comes after two local firefighters died earlier this week fighting another fire close to Bordeaux airport.
One resident, 19-year-old Yassmina de Freitas, who lives in the coastal town of Le Porge, said she first noticed smoke and the smell of burning at lunchtime on Wednesday.
At around 20:00 local time, her family was evacuated by law enforcement and taken to a gymnasium in a neighbouring town. In the rush to leave, they had to leave two of their cats and four chickens behind.
She said she could not sleep at all and was waking up every hour to check the fire’s progress.
“I could see the number of hectares burned rising steadily,” she said.
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