Historic French Wildfire Fully Extinguished

French authorities officially declared a massive wildfire in southwest France extinguished on Monday, two months after it sparked the nation’s largest blaze since 1949.

The fire erupted in July near the village of Saumos in the Gironde region, destroying over 37,000 hectares of forest and scorching 42,000 hectares in total.

The rapidly spreading flames forced roughly 224,000 residents and tourists to evacuate as they threatened Cap-Ferret and the outskirts of Bordeaux, though officials reported zero fatalities.

More than 3,300 firefighters battled the inferno in what officials called the largest civil security operation in modern French history.

Although teams brought the main blaze under control on August 1, embers continued to smoulder underground for weeks before crews eliminated all remaining hotspots.

The disaster forms part of a record-breaking fire season that has seen wildfires destroy roughly 98,000 hectares across France this year, marking the highest level of forest destruction the country has experienced since 1976.