Politics
🔴 Live: Southwestern France wildfire forces 44,000 to evacuate, destroys 12,500 hectares of forest
- Spain’s government declared a national emergency over wildfires there as hundreds of firefighters backed by water-bombing planes battled the blazes fanned by scorching temperatures and strong winds. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments.
- On Friday, firefighters in France's Var department were called out several times to the Pontevès fire, on the fourth day of their operations to tackle the blaze, which has spread across 2,700 hectares and has not yet been “contained”
- These flare-ups are “fanned by the south-easterly wind”, according to the local fire department.
Issued on: 24/07/2026 - 09:35 Modified: 24/07/2026 - 16:28 By: Simon FEISTHAUER FOURNET Plumes of smoke from wildfires at the seaside resort of Lacanau-Ocean, in southwestern France, on July 24, 2026. © Jan Athmann, dpa via At least 44,000 were evacuated from southwestern France over the past two days as wildfires continued to sweep through the region and destroyed 12,500 hectares of forest, the local prefect said Friday. Spain’s government declared a national emergency over wildfires there as hundreds of firefighters backed by water-bombing planes battled the blazes fanned by scorching temperatures and strong winds. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments. On Friday, firefighters in France's Var department were called out several times to the Pontevès fire, on the fourth day of their operations to tackle the blaze, which has spread across 2,700 hectares and has not yet been “contained”.
These flare-ups are “fanned by the south-easterly wind”, according to the local fire department. They “threaten the villages of Pontevès and Barjols”, stated the Var prefecture, adding that evacuation notices had been sent to residents of certain neighbourhoods in both villages.
Source: France24 English