LEGE-CAP FERRET – French President Emmanuel Macron convened an emergency crisis meeting Monday as massive, uncontrolled wildfires continued to tear through parts of Europe, forcing more than 250,000 people from their homes. In southwest France, however, officials reported the first tentative sign that the region’s largest blaze may finally be losing momentum.
In Gironde, where the flames have scorched land covering roughly four times the area of Paris, the prefecture said conditions overnight were “globally stable.” That marked a notable shift after several days in which the enormous wildfire, burning since last week, had crept closer to Bordeaux, the famed wine-region city.
Authorities announced no additional evacuations. Still, with France heading into the height of its August holiday season, officials in Gironde moved to keep tourists out of danger zones, prohibiting vacation camps for children and for people with disabilities.
Fire crews on the ground, supported by aircraft dropping water and fire retardant, were locked in an urgent push to contain the blaze before temperatures were expected to climb again Tuesday. The forecast heat threatened to complicate an already difficult firefighting operation.
Macron was set to lead the government’s crisis meeting Monday morning. In a weekend post on X, he promised sustained assistance for communities devastated by the fires, writing: “We will rebuild, we will repair and we will be present for as long as necessary.”
Spain was also battling severe wildfires, with blazes burning out of control around Madrid. Emergency evacuations were carried out Sunday in the Valencia region as fire conditions worsened.
The Spanish government said 76,000 people had been evacuated, while another 30,000 residents were ordered to remain inside their homes.
For those forced to leave, the wait was filled with anxiety over what might remain when they are finally allowed to return.
“It looked like the apocalypse. You couldn’t see anything. Everything was covered in ash,” said Rocío Domínguez, who evacuated with her dog, Simba, from Chapinería, west of Madrid.
“We don’t know when we get to the town, if we’ll have half the house burned down or we’ll have it intact or we won’t have a house,” she said. “All the clothes, all the memories, everything.”
