Wildfire in Gironde: Mayor Reports 175 Destroyed Homes in Le Porge

Le Porge – 26 July 2026: According to Mayor Martial Zaninetti, the wildfire in Gironde has completely destroyed 175 homes in the municipality of Le Porge. On Sunday, he described the scale of the damage as catastrophic. The flames reached residential neighborhoods on the edge of the town; the center has remained untouched according to information available so far.

The municipality urged residents not to return on their own under any circumstances. Entry to the evacuated town remains prohibited while emergency crews secure hazardous areas and search for smoldering hotspots. The town hall’s website states that the damage assessment is ongoing. Some addresses could not initially be recorded clearly.

The fire broke out on 22 July in Saumos, north of the Bassin d’Arcachon. Two days later, the French Interior Ministry described it as the largest wildfire of the current season up to that point. At the same time, firefighters and civil protection services in Gironde and the neighboring Landes department were battling several major fires. The number of deployment sites required the mobilization of forces from across the region.

The assessment for Le Porge remains preliminary. The town hall initially published a list of 152 damaged or destroyed homes. On 26 July, however, Zaninetti cited 175 homes that had been completely destroyed. An assessment published by the prefecture in the afternoon, reported by AFP, listed around 170 affected homes in Le Porge and 240 destroyed residential buildings across the entire fire area. The discrepancies are also likely due to different assessment times and damage categories.

Le Porge is located near the point where the fire began and had been fully evacuated. Firefighters continued to secure roads and properties and combat remaining fire hotspots. Because large areas have already burned, emergency services recently assessed the risk of another very large-scale spread as lower. However, this does not mean residents have been cleared to return.

Property owners and tenants are meanwhile beginning to document losses for insurance claims and possible assistance. The municipality set up a telephone contact point and is publishing recorded addresses of damaged homes. Further information is expected only after the safety situation and the accessibility of individual roads have been assessed.

The town has around 3,500 residents. The number of people who have permanently lost their accommodation has not yet been fully established. What is clear so far is that the fire has affected a substantial part of the local housing stock and that returns remained prohibited on 26 July for safety reasons.