Disasters & Incidents
France wildfire burns 42,000 hectares as minister warns wildlife losses could be catastrophic
Wildlife losses from wildfires west of Bordeaux could be catastrophic after about 42,000 hectares of forest burned in Gironde since Wednesday, France’s ecology minister Monique Barbut said on Monday.
Barbut said homes, farmland and vehicles had been destroyed, while animals had suffered “extremely significant losses”.
She said it was too early to provide a precise assessment of the damage to wildlife.
Ecology experts told AFP that animals unable to escape the heat, smoke and flames were likely to include threatened species such as the Western spadefoot toad.
Ocellated lizards, Etruscan shrews and large numbers of insects were also likely to have been affected.
Laurent Tillon of France’s National Forestry Office said almost nothing could have survived the intensity of the fires in badly affected communes including Le Porge on the Atlantic coast.
Gregoire Lois, an ornithologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, said the loss of insects would have lasting consequences for birds that depend on them for food.
Celine Sissler-Bienvenu, an animal protection and crisis-management expert, said ash could pollute rivers and streams and harm aquatic species, including the European pond turtle.
Experts said larger animals such as deer might escape the flames but could become trapped by changing fire fronts, run onto roads or railway lines, suffer smoke inhalation or struggle to find new habitats and food.
The wildlife impact and possible next steps are expected to be discussed by the prime minister’s office on Tuesday.
Barbut said reintroducing species displaced by the fires would be difficult if their forest habitats had been destroyed.
The Gironde fire is part of a wider wildfire crisis in France.
A previous official update said about 115,000 hectares had burned across the country since the start of the year.
Officials also said 220,000 people evacuated from Gironde would be unable to return home until the fire was under control.
Update
France's ecology minister Monique Barbut said wildlife had suffered extremely significant losses in the Gironde fires and warned that the eventual figures would be catastrophic.
About 42,000 hectares of forest west of Bordeaux had burned since Wednesday, according to the new source item.
Experts described likely severe impacts on species including the Western spadefoot toad, ocellated lizard, Etruscan shrew, insects, birds and European pond turtle.
The prime minister's office is due to discuss the wildlife impact of the fires and next steps on Tuesday.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 July 2026 at 16:20:24 UTC.
Update
France's interior minister said about 115,000 hectares have burned in France since the start of the year.
France is fighting 30 to 40 wildfires daily, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez.
A firefighters' federation spokesman said the southwest France wildfire created a pyrocumulonimbus, described as never before seen in France.
Italy's coastguard said more than 400 people were evacuated by sea from the southern Adriatic coast, with several hundred more expected to be rescued.
Spain's ecological transition minister said fires had affected 77,000 hectares in the Madrid, Avila and Toledo regions and included the country's largest forest fire in recent history.
Authorities closed 60 kilometres of the A63 highway and SNCF halted train traffic for about 100 kilometres south of Bordeaux.
Source note: AFP news report published on 26 July 2026 at 19:20:25 UTC.
Update
French President Emmanuel Macron will chair a crisis cabinet meeting on Monday morning about wildfires in southwest France, his office said.
A spokesman for France's National Firefighters Federation told AFP the Gironde wildfire had created a dangerous pyrocumulonimbus cloud, which he said had never before been seen in the country.
The local prefect said 220,000 people evacuated in France's Gironde region would not be able to return home until the fire was under control.
Italy's coastguard said more than 400 people were evacuated by sea on Sunday from parts of the southern Adriatic coast, with several hundred more expected to be rescued.
Spain's ecological transition minister said fires around Madrid included the largest forest fire in the country's recent history.
France's interior minister said 2,500 firefighters, 1,500 military personnel and about 1,200 police had been deployed to Gironde.
Source note: AFP news report published on 26 July 2026 at 16:24:41 UTC.
Update
Spain's King Felipe VI visited a shelter for evacuees and said the fires had caused incalculable damage to the country's natural heritage.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said difficult hours were ahead but also reported positive signs toward containing the blaze west of Madrid.
Bordeaux's mayor said officials were vigilant but no evacuation of the city was planned.
The Gironde wildfire had forced the evacuation of 220,000 people, described by the source as one of the largest such operations in French history.
Pope Leo IV expressed solidarity with people affected by the fires and called for prayers for them and for first responders.
Spain's civil protection chief Virginia Barcones said Spain was dealing with a national wildfire crisis covering a 280-kilometre perimeter and 77,000 hectares.
France's interior minister Laurent Nunez said the Gironde fire had become extremely intense and unpredictable again overnight and was advancing erratically toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area.
France deployed 2,500 firefighters, including a Swiss firefighting team, 1,500 military personnel and about 1,200 police to Gironde.
Police said a man was arrested in Eysines after allegedly stealing 44 bottles of prestige grand cru wine from an empty home.
Authorities said 60 kilometres of the A63 highway and about 100 kilometres of rail traffic south of Bordeaux had been closed because of the Gironde fire.
Regional authorities said the Gironde fire had burned 42,000 hectares, making it one of France's biggest land devastations since World War II.
About 2,000 people were still unable to return home in France's Var department because of the Ponteves wildfire.
Firefighters in Corsica were still trying to contain a blaze near Corte that had spread over more than 800 hectares.
Source note: AFP news report published on 26 July 2026 at 13:46:21 UTC.
Update
French authorities said more than 220,000 people had been evacuated from areas around the Gironde fire near Bordeaux.
France's interior minister said the Gironde fire became extremely intense and unpredictable again overnight and was moving erratically toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area.
France deployed 2,500 firefighters, 1,500 military personnel and about 1,200 police to Gironde, including a Swiss firefighting team.
Spanish authorities ordered evacuations in eight more municipalities near Toledo.
The Gironde fire had burned 42,000 hectares, according to regional authorities.
A wildfire in Valencia killed one person on Friday before being brought under control, according to local authorities.
Source note: AFP news report published on 26 July 2026 at 10:39:55 UTC.
Update
Sanchez made the comments while visiting a wildfire zone west of Madrid.
He said the pact should align Spain's central government and regional administrations.
The source said Sanchez had been pushing the proposal before the fires erupted.
Source note: AFP news report published on 26 July 2026 at 10:03:43 UTC.
Update
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged a national pact on the climate emergency while in the wildfire zone.
Source note: AFP news report published on 26 July 2026 at 09:50:07 UTC.
Update
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said difficult hours lay ahead in the fight against Spain's wildfires.
Sanchez said officials had seen positive overnight developments in the fires' progression, containment and firefighting efforts around Madrid.
Sanchez made the comments during a visit to the Avila area affected by fires.
Source note: AFP news report published on 26 July 2026 at 09:38:53 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The precise wildlife death toll has not been determined.
The source item gives 42,000 hectares burned west of Bordeaux since Wednesday, while the matched published story gave about 115,000 hectares burned across France since the start of the year; the figures have different scopes.
The full extent of long-term ecological damage remains unclear.
Source
AFP news report published on .