Conflict · Firestorms · Archive250,000 Flee as Firestorms Engulf France's Atlantic Coast and Central SpainAired July 25, 2026 at 8:53 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00A fire crisis of staggering scale is0:02unfolding across Western Europe tonight.0:04More than a quarter of a million people0:05have been forced from their homes in0:07France and Spain as fire storms tear0:09through both countries. Here in France,0:11a self-sustaining blaze in the Gironde0:13region is pushing toward Bordeaux, the0:15nation's wine capital, prompting what0:17the interior minister is calling an0:18unprecedented evacuation operation. More0:20than 160,000 people have evacuated0:23Southwest France. The fire began near0:25Cap Ferret on the Atlantic coast and has0:28grown into a fire storm, a blaze so0:30intense it creates its own weather.0:311,400 firefighters are on the lines in0:34Gironde alone, backed by military A400M0:37cargo planes dropping flame retardant.0:39At least 50 firefighters have been0:41injured. Evacuation orders began at 3:300:43this morning. Bordeaux Airport was0:45briefly shut down and 500 beds have been0:48set up at the Parc d'Expositions in the0:50city. Families along the Atlantic coast0:52fled by boat as flames cut off road0:55access. Tourists were evacuated from0:57campsites and hotels, many now sleeping0:59in expo centers. The disruption even1:01reached the Tour de France, whose final1:03stage was truncated and moved inside1:05Paris. Across the border in Spain, the1:07situation is equally dire. Two massive1:10blazes have merged west of Madrid,1:12forcing 70,000 people from their homes.1:14Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has1:16declared a national emergency, calling1:19it the worst wildfire in the Madrid1:20region's history. 2,600 Spanish1:23firefighters are battling the flames1:25with international support arriving from1:26Italy, Greece, and Portugal under the EU1:29emergency mechanism. French Interior1:31Minister Laurent Nuñez described the1:33Gironde blaze as an unprecedented1:36self-sustaining firestorm. More than 601:38square kilometers have burned in the1:40Madrid region alone, and authorities on1:42both sides of the border warn conditions1:44could worsen. To put the numbers in1:45perspective, more than 160,000 evacuated1:48from Southwestern France and another1:5070,000 from central Spain. The total now1:53exceeds a quarter of a million people1:55displaced in a single fire event1:56spanning two countries. These images1:58capture the scale of the crisis, massive2:01fires consuming France's Atlantic pine2:03forests, and the extraordinary scenes of2:05families evacuating by boat as roads2:07became impassable. The fires are moving2:09with alarming speed driven by dry2:11conditions and strong coastal winds. The2:13response has been massive on both sides2:15of the Pyrenees. France has deployed2:17military aircraft to drop fire retardant2:20under the EU civil protection mechanism.2:22Italy, Greece, and Portugal are sending2:24resources to Spain. Officials say the2:26priority now is protecting populated2:28areas and containing the flames before2:29winds shift. Spanish Prime Minister2:31Sanchez warned of unpredictable winds2:33and dry storms that could spread the2:35fire further. The threat to Bordeaux2:37remains immediate with fire crews racing2:39to keep the blaze from reaching the2:41city's outskirts. The next hours will be2:43critical on both fronts.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗