Gironde megafire, France's biggest since 1949, declared out after 69 days
The Saumos wildfire that burned 42,000 hectares in southwest France and forced 224,000 evacuations has been declared extinguished, the Gironde prefecture said.
France's biggest wildfire since 1949 is now fully extinguished, more than two months after flames tore through the Gironde region and sent roughly 224,000 people fleeing their homes at the height of the crisis, the departmental prefecture said Monday.
The fire began on 22 July near the village of Saumos, in the Landes de Gascogne forest of southwest France, and went on to burn 42,000 hectares, of which 37,296 were destroyed, according to a prefecture statement carried by La Dépêche du Midi.
As the flames advanced, they threatened the tourist peninsula of Cap-Ferret and the western edge of Bordeaux, at one point generating a pyrocumulonimbus, a storm cloud formed by intense heat, La Dépêche reported. Aftenposten, the Norwegian newspaper that visited the region during the fire, put the burned area at about 420 square kilometres.
Some residents who fled the flames had only minutes to grab essential belongings from their homes, Aftenposten reported.
Firefighters halted the fire's advance on 1 August, though it kept smouldering underground for weeks afterwards. More than 3,300 firefighters were joined by soldiers, police officers, foresters, farmers and volunteers in the response, which Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas called the biggest anti-fire mobilisation in the modern history of France's civil security service, La Dépêche reported.
No deaths were reported, the prefecture said. Forestry work in the burned area only resumed on 8 September, with crews facing weeks of felling and clearing charred timber to guard against falling trees and pest infestation.
France has recorded close to 98,000 hectares burned by wildfire so far this year, according to provisional figures from the National Forestry Office cited by La Dépêche, in what officials describe as the country's worst year for burned area since 1976.
What we know
- The Saumos wildfire in Gironde burned 42,000 hectares over 69 days
- No deaths were reported, the prefecture said
- About 224,000 people were evacuated at the fire's peak
- More than 3,300 firefighters took part in the operation
- The fire was declared extinguished on Monday, 28 September
Why it matters for Europe
The Saumos fire is the largest recorded in France since a 1949 blaze in the same forest, which burned about 50,000 hectares and, according to La Dépêche, was deadly. No lives were lost in this year's fire, despite it coming close in scale to that historic disaster. The evacuation of 224,000 people and the threat to Bordeaux's outskirts showed how wildfires once largely confined to remote forest areas can now reach the edges of major cities, raising the stakes for regional authorities managing France's fire season.
Sources
Reported by 3 reports from 3 independent outlets in 2 countries.
- La Dépêche du Midi: Incendie en Gironde : le mégafeu de 42 000 hectares déclaré "éteint" deux mois après, annonce la préfecture du département
- France 24: France puts out massive fire that torched 42,000 hectares and smouldered for 69 days
- Aftenposten: Frankrike har slukket landets største skogbrann siden 1949
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Questions and answers
- How big was the Gironde wildfire?
- It burned around 42,000 hectares, of which 37,296 were destroyed, making it France's largest fire since 1949.
- Were there any casualties?
- French authorities said no deaths were reported, though about 224,000 people were evacuated during the fire.
- When did the fire start and end?
- It broke out on 22 July near Saumos and was declared extinguished on 28 September, after smouldering underground for weeks following its containment on 1 August.
This article was written with AI assistance from 3 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.