Macron pledges ecological overhaul as EU aid intensifies in France’s worst wildfire crisis since WWII
French authorities face mounting pressure to manage a 42,000-hectare blaze while preparing for a new heatwave, with the EU deploying additional aircraft to support firefighting efforts across the region.
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Gironde department on Monday to assess the scale of a wildfire that has scorched more than 42,000 hectares of pine forest and destroyed 240 homes. Describing the incident as the most severe situation since World War II, Macron vowed to rebuild the affected areas with a different ecological approach, acknowledging that the coming weeks would present significant challenges for recovery and containment.
The blaze, located west of Bordeaux, has forced the evacuation of over 220,000 residents, with thousands currently housed in emergency shelters. While a separate fire near Biscarrosse in the Landes region has been brought under control, the main fire in Gironde remains uncontained despite overnight drizzle. The French Gendarmerie has deployed ten Centaure multipurpose armoured vehicles to assist firefighting units in navigating rough terrain and clearing debris, as crews continue to battle unpredictable fire storms.
International support has been mobilised through the EU crisis management mechanism. EU crisis management commissioner Hadja Lahbib confirmed that seven planes and four helicopters from Czechia, Croatia, Germany, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, and Turkey have been dispatched to France. Lahbib noted that the EU’s fleet of water-bombing aircraft is increasingly stretched, with additional resources also being sent to Spain to combat fires there.
The operational environment is expected to deteriorate rapidly. Météo-France has forecast a new heatwave arriving on Tuesday, with temperatures peaking at 40°C in the south-west on Wednesday. This rise in heat, coupled with drier air conditions, threatens to complicate firefighting efforts and place further strain on local hospitals. Captain Wilfried Schneider of the Gironde Departmental Fire and Rescue Service noted that humidity levels had already dropped, altering the immediate weather conditions for crews.
The human cost of the disaster continues to mount, with 88 firefighters injured since the fires began, including four additional injuries reported overnight. No civilian casualties have been reported. Government estimates place the cost of rebuilding and replanting the affected land between 5,000 and 10,000 euros per hectare, while officials warn that the impact on local wildlife will be catastrophic.
