More than a quarter-million people have been driven from their homes in southwest France as a massive wildfire burns toward Bordeaux. French authorities ordered another 55,000 people to evacuate overnight Sunday from communities south of the city, bringing the total number of evacuees to about 250,000. Gusty winds, dry conditions, and repeated heat waves have fueled the fire, which has burned out of control since midweek, according to Fox News.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez warned Sunday that the situation remains dangerous. "The fire again became extremely virulent again and unpredictable, generating its own winds and advancing erratically toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area," Nunez posted on X, adding that the blaze "became calmer by the end of the night."
Nunez also said firefighters faced a "difficult" night and that "the situation remains very unfavorable."
The fire has now burned an estimated 42,000 hectares, or about 162 square miles, in the Gironde region. That is roughly four times the size of Paris. Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave said the flames came within about 9 miles of the city, prompting officials to partially close a major highway into and out of the region.
More than 2,500 firefighters are working to slow the fire's advance, backed by 18 planes and helicopters. France has also deployed 1,500 soldiers to help clear vegetation and build firebreaks, while several European countries have sent aircraft and firefighting crews to assist. Nunez said 450 volunteers have also pitched in.
One of those volunteers was 65-year-old farmer Pascal Roudier. "We came to lend a hand because if it were our region, we'd want others to do the same," Roudier told Reuters. "And given the scale of the disaster, we think our efforts are very welcome too."
The Bordeaux-area fire is one of several major wildfires burning across France. A separate blaze in the neighboring Landes region has forced another 36,000 people to evacuate, while nearly 3,000 others have left their homes in the Var region along the Mediterranean coast.
Spain is facing its own wildfire emergency. Authorities there have evacuated about 116,000 people in recent days as fires burned across the Valencia region and west of Madrid. A fast-moving fire in a Valencia suburb killed one man Saturday, marking Spain's first wildfire death in the latest wave of fires. Earlier this month, 13 people were killed in southern Spain in the country's deadliest wildfire in recent memory.
