Fire in southwestern France engulfs 1,100 hectares of land

The new fire that broke out on Thursday in a vast pine forest in the Lande area in southwestern France continued to spread overnight, having so far consumed 1,100 hectares of land without causing serious material damage, authorities announced.

The area burned by fires since the beginning of 2026 in France has exceeded record levels seen over the past two decades, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), which reported that approximately 100,000 hectares have burned so far.

Arnaud Fabre, head of local fire services, said the fire was “under control” thanks to lower nighttime temperatures and higher humidity, but he expressed concern about new outbreaks as a heatwave returns, with temperatures expected to reach 36 degrees Celsius in the afternoon.

The prefect of the department, Gilles Clavérol, said on Friday morning that “the next fifteen hours will be critical.”

The fire, whose origin has not yet been determined, spread rapidly on Thursday evening due to shifting wind directions. A total of 525 people were evacuated.

Meanwhile, a major fire broke out in the Gironde region, in the same coastal pine forest, destroying 42,000 hectares. The blaze forced the evacuation of 220,000 people before firefighters managed to bring it under control after ten days of battling it.

On Friday, Clavérol hoped for a rapid resumption of aerial firefighting operations, given the expected improvement in weather conditions on Saturday.

He clarified that no homes had been destroyed so far, noting that some were located only tens of meters from the fire line.

Other fires broke out on Thursday evening in western France (Gironde and South Charente) and in the north, where a natural area along the coast was affected.

These fires coincide with France’s third heatwave of the summer, with severe heat expected across most of the country on Friday.