BBC News
· collected 2026-07-31 · by Sofia Ferreira Santos, Mark Poynting
Story summary
Here's a summary of the news stories about the wildfires in southwest France:
Wildfires ravage southwest France: A massive wildfire has been burning in the Gironde region of southwest France, forcing 220,000 people to evacuate and destroying hundreds of homes. The fire has burned 240,000 hectares of land and is considered one of the largest peacetime evacuations in French history.
Exhausted crews battle flames: Firefighters from across France are working tirelessly to contain the blaze, but they're struggling due to extreme heat and drought conditions. Local volunteers have been helping with the efforts, but some residents feel abandoned by the authorities.
Human-made forest at center of wildfires: The wildfire is happening in a human-made forest created by Napoleon III, which scientists say was vulnerable to climate change due to its peatlands ecosystem. The fire has spread rapidly due to strong winds and dry conditions.
Firefighting efforts hampered by heat wave: A heat wave has been gripping the region, making it difficult for firefighters to contain the blaze. Temperatures have reached 40C, causing the embers of the wildfire to burst into flames repeatedly.
Thousands return home after evacuation: The French government has allowed 84,000 people to return to their homes, but many residents are still assessing the damage and trying to rebuild their lives. Some feel that the authorities prioritized wealthy areas over poorer ones, leaving them vulnerable to the disaster.
The wildfires have also affected neighboring countries, including Spain and Greece, where hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes. The situation remains dire, with many fires still burning out of control and extreme heat conditions persisting in the region.
Written for “Europe's Devastating Wildfires Crisis” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 11 other(s) covering the same event.
- Published
Thousands of people have been evacuated on the Greek island of Crete as wildfires fanned by strong winds menace tourist resorts and villages.
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wildfires → publish → resorts
Two firefighters died on the island on Wednesday when they became trapped while tackling a fire near Krya Vrysi in the Rethymno region.
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they → die → region
A third firefighter died on the Greek mainland, near the port town of Gytheio in the Peloponnese.
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firefighter → die → Peloponnese
As gusts reached 125km/h (77mph) on the island, around 8,000 people were evacuated from their homes overnight but were later allowed to return.
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people → reach → homes
Greece is among many European countries facing devastating fires and drought.
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Greece → face → fires
Several fires have continued to burn in Spain and Portugal, although Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared an end to the national emergency for wildfires in the Ávila and Madrid regions.
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Sánchez → continue → regions
In south-west France some residents have been able to return to their homes after a major wildfire in the Gironde region.
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residents → return → region
The fire raging in Crete broke out in the Rethymno region on Wednesday and has since spread rapidly, destroying homes and agricultural land.
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fire → rag → homes
It remains one of the biggest fires currently active on the island and is still burning out of control.
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It → remain → control
There was no clear picture of the destruction so far, Rethymno's deputy regional governor Maria Lioni said, adding that containing the fire was the main priority.
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containing → be → fire
Lioni described Wednesday as a "dark day" for the region and said gusts overnight reached up to 11 on the Beaufort scale - a wind force categorised as "violent" - fanning the flames and hampering containment efforts.
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gusts → describe → efforts
Some of those evacuated in Rethymno were moved into a temporary shelter.
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Some → evacuate → shelter
"I was watching the fire and I just didn't know what to do.
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I → watch → what
It was like a volcano down the side of the mountain," said Bianca Boorer, who was visiting the coastal resort of Agios Pavlos with her mother on a yoga retreat.
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who → say → retreat
"The bar staff told us you need to get in cars and drive away but only two people had cars.
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people → tell → cars
Eleven people tried to get into one tiny car and the car my mum was in was nearer to the fire," she told the BBC's Your Voice.
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she → try → Voice
"The place we had breakfast in has burnt down.
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we → have → breakfast
Agios Pavlos hotel has burnt down, the place we did yoga in has also burnt down."
The fire broke out during one of Crete's busiest months for tourism.
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fire → burn → tourism
Hundreds of firefighters have been deployed to the region to battle the blaze.
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Hundreds → deploy → blaze
Hellenic Fire Service chief Theodoros Vagias expressed his condolences for the two firefighters who died on Wednesday, naming them as 58-year-old Emmanouil Stratidakis and Pantelis Diamantakis, 25.
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who → express → Stratidakis
Both will be buried on Thursday, the statement added.
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statement → bury → Thursday
Meanwhile, wildfires have erupted in the north-western Spanish provinces of Zamora and León, not far from the border with Portugal, with more than 1,000 people evacuated.
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people → erupt → Portugal
Five people were injured in a fire in the eastern town of Valpaços in Portugal, according to local reports.
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people → injure → reports
A major fire that consumed an area in excess of 66,000 hectares to the west of the Spanish capital, Madrid, and caused tens of thousands of people to be evacuated has stopped spreading, allowing some residents to return home.
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residents → consume → people
As he ended the national emergency in the area, Pedro Sánchez urged "extreme caution" during the fourth heatwave of the summer in Spain.
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Sánchez → end → Spain
The fire in Ávila, which has burned more than 43,000 hectares over the past week, is now considered the largest recorded wildfire in Spanish history.
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which → burn → history
A small amount of rain fell near Bordeaux in France on Thursday, raising hopes that the Gironde wildfire that has burned an area larger than the US city of Detroit and destroyed 240 homes might soon be over.
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that → fall → homes
The region's fire service said it was "reasonably optimistic" given that the fire had not grown in size since the weekend.
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fire → say → weekend
Around 84,000 of the 220,000 displaced residents were allowed to return home on Thursday, according to French reports.
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84,000 → displace → reports
It is estimated that more than 90,000 hectares of land across France have burnt this year - higher than any other year on record, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information Service.
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hectares → estimate → Service
In Spain, more than 200,000 hectares have burnt in 2026 – roughly five times above the average for the time of year.
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hectares → burn → year
The area of land ravaged in Portugal is also higher than usual for this point in July.
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area → ravage → July
The European fire season typically extends into August and September – and with more hot weather on the way in the coming days, these figures are likely to keep rising.
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figures → extend → days
Most wildfires are started by humans, whether deliberately or accidentally, but climate change is strengthening weather conditions conducive to fires spreading.
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fires → start → conditions
Last winter was mild and wet, encouraging vegetation growth, which has then dried out in successive heatwaves, generating tinder-dry fuel for wildfires.
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which → encourage → wildfires
Some researchers have also warned that the Mediterranean's forests and scrublands are not being properly managed – leaving plenty of vegetation as fuel for fires.
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forests → warn → fires
Forecasters say fire-prone conditions are expected to spread towards central Europe, with Greece and Turkey among the countries worst affected.
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Greece → say → countries
In Turkey, hundreds of homes have also been evacuated but the majority of fires that have broken out mainly in the south have been brought under control
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that → evacuate → control
, authorities say.
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authorities → say → ?
If you are affected and it is safe to do so, please get in touch by using this link or the form below.
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it → affect → link
