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Arcachon fire spreads
A wildfire in Arcachon, France, forced the evacuation of 110,000 people and advanced toward Bordeaux, with the fire already having covered 14,000 hectares.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the airport in the nearby Bordeaux area remains closed and that authorities may have to order evacuations in the metropolitan area of Bordeaux.
Radio-Canada reported that in France around 110,000 people had been evacuated since Wednesday and that the largest fire in Gironde had burned 14,000 hectares, citing Nuñez.
The same Radio-Canada report said Nuñez described the situation as entirely unprecedented, saying that such a convective fire of this magnitude had never been seen before on TF1.
In the Gironde region, prefect Sophie Brocas said authorities would seek national reinforcements including firefighters, military resources, health personnel and experts, as the fire progressed toward the Bordeaux metropolis.
Evacuation by boat
While the fire advanced toward the Bordeaux metropolis, authorities ordered a total evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula, and regional prefect Sophie Brocas said the final phase began early on Friday morning.
The evacuation relied on a flotilla of public and private boats mobilized across four coastal piers between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. local time on Friday, and the report said over 400 individuals were rescued by sea in the initial wave.
The West Asian report said two French firefighters were killed on Tuesday while battling the leading edge of the flames near Bordeaux Airport.
Radio-Canada said the city of Bordeaux was not currently threatened and that authorities would do everything to protect it using ground forces and with the help of military resources.
In the same Radio-Canada account, Nuñez told AFP that there were 32 fires in progress across France, and he said the country had surpassed 50,000 hectares burned since January 1 of the year.
Crisis cells and risks
As fires continued across France and Spain, President Emmanuel Macron asked the armed forces to provide maximum support to civil security, and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu held an interministerial crisis cell on forest fires.
Radio-Canada said the Interior, Armed Forces, Health, Transport and Environment ministries were summoned for the meeting, according to a press statement, and it added that Nuñez said authorities would do everything to protect Bordeaux.
In Spain, the Madrid region fire was described by Carlos Novillo of the Madrid regional government as impossible to extinguish, and the report said it was at its strongest and could not be extinguished.
La patrie news said Emmanuel Macron requested activation of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism, and it reported that Spain faced two fires in the Madrid region that threatened a densely populated area.
The same La patrie news account said the fires had already been described as the worst in the history of the two countries and that in France more than 50,000 hectares had fallen prey to the flames so far in 2026, while 32 fires were still being extinguished.
