Bystanders look on as fire and smoke billow across Castres-Mazamet aerodrome, near Labruguiere in south-western France on July 24, 2026. (Photo by Daniel ABELOUS / AFP)
PARIS: About 98,000 hectares of land have been burned by wildfires across France so far in 2026, setting a historical record for the country, French authorities said Saturday.
Speaking at a press briefing, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said that several blazes remain uncontained across the national territory, notably in the departments of Gironde, Landes, and Var.
The ongoing emergency has led to large-scale evacuations in southwestern France. According to Nunez, 57,000 people were evacuated overnight due to the spreading fires in Gironde, bringing the total number of evacuated residents in the region to 167,000.
On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron said France had requested the activation of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism as wildfires continued to spread across the country.
In a post on social media platform X, Macron said the wildfire situation remained under very high tension, particularly in Gironde, adding that France would soon receive aerial firefighting assistance from Croatia, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
