Major Wildfires in Gironde and Landes: The Fight to Save Homes

Saumos – 27/07/2026: Since 22 July, a large-scale forest fire has kept Gironde on edge. A blaze broke out near Saumos, north of the Bassin d’Arcachon, spreading rapidly amid dry conditions and shifting winds. According to the Interior Ministry, it was among the most severe fires of the current season in France on Friday, 24 July.

For people in the affected communities, the stakes are their homes, animals and personal documents – as well as the anxious question of what will remain of their homes after evacuation. The Gironde prefecture put the preliminary number of destroyed houses at around 140 on Saturday, 25 July. At that point, evacuees were still unable to return.

Firefighters focused on protecting settlements and critical infrastructure. Gendarmerie units were also deployed: they closed roads, secured evacuation routes and monitored abandoned areas. The Interior Ministry reported support from other parts of the country, as well as the deployment of firefighting aircraft and helicopters. Given the scale of the fire, crews also had to combat new outbreaks and prevent the flames from spreading to further residential areas.

Fires have also been burning in the neighboring department of Landes, in the Biscarrosse and Sanguinet area, since 23 July. Residents of at-risk areas were moved to safety as a precaution. On 25 July, the prefecture allowed some Biscarrosse residents to return after firefighters, emergency services and the gendarmerie classified certain sectors as secure. The authorization explicitly did not apply to the entire fire zone.

The extent of the damage in Landes remained unclear. Prefect Gilles Clavreul said on 24 July that about 110 to 120 homes had been destroyed or damaged. He also pointed out that emergency crews had not yet been able to inspect all affected areas. The figures cited by authorities and media therefore remain preliminary and may change as the damage is systematically assessed.

In Gironde, the fire zone covered about 32,700 hectares on Saturday, according to authorities. Behind that figure lie very different levels of damage: while some settlements could be secured in time, families on the edge of the pine forests sometimes had little time to take only the essentials and follow the instructions of emergency services.

The causes of the fires had not yet been conclusively identified in the official statements available. Investigations into their origin can often begin only once the immediate danger has been contained and the affected areas have been secured. The prefectures of Gironde and Landes had already ordered restrictions and special protective measures because of the extreme wildfire risk before the major fires broke out.