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French authorities have evacuated more than 10,000 tourists and residents after a fast-moving wildfire tore through a pine forest along the country’s southwestern coast.
The blaze, which broke out on Wednesday in Le Porge, south of the Medoc wine region, had destroyed about 2,400 hectares of forest by Thursday, an area roughly twice the size of London’s Heathrow Airport.
Firefighters said no deaths or injuries had been reported, and no homes had been destroyed.
Dense smoke blanketed the coastal community near Bordeaux as helicopters and fire engines battled the flames, while charred and burning trees lined roads between Le Porge and the nearby village of Lege-Cap-Ferret.
Around 12,000 people, including holidaymakers staying at campsites and other accommodation as well as residents living near the forest, were evacuated as a precaution.
One resident, Patrick Martineau, said police went door to door ordering people to leave their homes, describing the experience as frightening and unexpected.
“Police came banging on the doors of all homes,” he said.
“It’s a bit scary, hard to take in,” he added.
“When we bought a home here, we never thought there would be a fire risk.”
About 700 firefighters, supported by water-bombing aircraft, have been deployed to contain the blaze, with flames reaching up to 10 metres high in some areas.
Authorities said police were investigating the cause of the fire after initial reports suggested it may have been sparked accidentally by a brush-clearing machine.
Residents said the forest had become extremely dry following successive heatwaves, creating conditions for the fire to spread rapidly.
The affected area was also hit by devastating wildfires in 2022, when about 30,000 hectares of forest were destroyed and nearly 50,000 people were forced to evacuate.
The Le Porge fire is the latest in a series of wildfires across France in recent weeks.
In southern France, officials said a wildfire near Ponteves, northeast of Marseille, had been brought under control after burning about 2,500 hectares and destroying 10 homes.
Another fire also scorched part of the UNESCO-listed Fontainebleau forest outside Paris, an area where such wildfires are uncommon.
France has experienced three heatwaves since May, with meteorologists linking the increasingly frequent extreme weather events to climate change.
