Gironde Wildfire Near Bordeaux Forces 220,000+ Evacuations in France's Largest Peacetime Evacuation

A wildfire that broke out near the Atlantic coast on July 22–23 spread inland through the pine forests of the Gironde department west of Bordeaux, fed by France's record-hot, driest-since-1900 July and a rare pyrocumulonimbus ("fire thunderstorm") that generated its own lightning and sparked new blazes. By July 27 the fire had burned more than 42,000 hectares (104,000 acres) — an area four times the size of Paris — destroying over 200 homes. More than 220,000 people were evacuated across Gironde and Landes, including a full evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula, in what officials and outlets described as France's largest peacetime evacuation since World War II. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the fire "has a life of its own... it is autonomous, self-sustaining, and spreads in all directions." Two firefighters were killed battling the blaze near Bordeaux-Mérignac airport.