Ankara: More than 63,000 residents and tourists have been evacuated as two major wildfires continue to rage across southwestern France, local media reported Friday. In Gironde, around 40,000 people have been evacuated from the Cap-Ferret area over the past two days, with thousands more expected to leave, according to French daily L'Independant.
According to Anadolu Agency, the largest fire, near Arcachon Bay and the Cap-Ferret peninsula in Gironde, has burned more than 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres), according to the prefecture. Authorities ordered the evacuation of the entire Cap-Ferret peninsula after the fire advanced overnight. No fatalities have been reported, but 27 firefighters have been injured. Around 1,000 firefighters remain deployed in Gironde, supported by four Canadair water bombers, two Dash 8 aircraft, and firefighting helicopters.
A separate wildfire near Biscarrosse in neighboring Landes has burned more than 2,600 hectares. Some 23,000 people have been evacuated, including 18,000 residents of Biscarrosse-Bourg and another 5,000 people from a campsite in nearby Parentis. Around 500 firefighters are battling the blaze. Gusts could reach 80 kilometers per hour (50 miles per hour) in the evening, while dry thunderstorms were also possible, according to Meteo-France.
French President Emmanuel Macron said through US social media company X that France had activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. He said two Croatian Canadair aircraft, two Portuguese Air Tractor aircraft, and Czech and Slovak Black Hawk helicopters would reinforce firefighting efforts. Civil Security Director Julien Marion told RTL that both fires were "totally unpredictable" because of their convective behavior. "They evolve and spread very quickly," he said, adding that this was why authorities had ordered preventive evacuations.
Marion also said that nearly 50,000 hectares have burned in France since the start of the wildfire season, describing it as 'a completely unprecedented fire season.' Authorities also launched maritime evacuation shuttles from the Cap-Ferret peninsula Friday morning, while road evacuations continued via the D106 highway. Navigation across Arcachon Bay was temporarily suspended to facilitate the evacuation, according to the maritime prefecture.
Landes Prefect Gilles Clavreul told BFM TV that the Biscarrosse fire remained "out of control" after continuing to spread overnight. France's national forest fire service placed Haute-Garonne under its highest wildfire alert on Friday, while 27 departments remained under orange alert for elevated wildfire risk, including Gironde, Landes, and Var.