France sends 500 additional soldiers to areas affected by forest fires

Bordeaux – 25 July 2026: In response to the serious forest fires in southwestern France, the government is strengthening the Armed Forces’ support for fire services under heavy pressure. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced, following an interministerial crisis meeting held on Friday, 24 July, the deployment of another 500 soldiers to Gironde and the Landes department. According to the government, this will bring the total number of military personnel supporting civilian emergency teams to more than 1,000.

The additional units are expected to arrive on Saturday, in a situation that may change rapidly due to large-scale vegetation fires and shifting winds. Their tasks will focus primarily on logistics, traffic management, protecting evacuated areas and setting up the necessary infrastructure. The soldiers do not replace firefighters or their specialists in direct firefighting. Their role is to relieve the sapeurs-pompiers so that they can concentrate personnel and equipment on the fire fronts.

With this reinforcement, the government is responding to a burden that exceeds regional civil protection capacity. In major fires, firefighters from the affected departments receive support from other parts of France, as well as from the national Sécurité civile and the Armed Forces. Military units remain integrated into the civilian operational command.

At the same time, aerial support will be expanded. The Ministry of the Interior announced on 23 July that an A400M military transport aircraft could be experimentally equipped with a system for dropping fire retardant. The aircraft will be able to carry up to 20 tonnes of this product. Operations are planned ahead of the actual fire front in order to treat particularly vulnerable areas preventively. The information initially did not specify whether or when the aircraft could be used regularly.

These plans are complemented by firefighting aircraft already deployed in the southwestern defence zone. According to the prefecture of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Bordeaux and Limoges have permanent facilities for loading extinguishing agents. During the summer season, another facility is added, operating alternately at Mont-de-Marsan Air Base or Pau-Uzein Airport. Short refuelling distances are intended to reduce the time between individual firefighting missions.

Lecornu’s decision thus brings together military logistics, civil protection and coordination among several ministries. The priority is to protect the population, carry out evacuations and secure main transport routes. According to information from Gironde, firefighters on the ground are calling for additional capabilities, particularly aerial ones. At the time of the government’s announcement, there was still no uniformly confirmed information on the area destroyed or on the development of individual fire outbreaks.