2026 Gironde and Landes wildfire
2026 CE.
Shown on the map at 44.836°, -1.035°.
The 2026 Landes forest fires, in France, are a series of wildfires affecting several areas of the Landes de Gascogne forest massif, in the departments of Gironde and Landes, beginning on 22 July 2026. As of 17 August 2026, a total of 47,004 hectares (116,150 acres) of forest has been destroyed, 88 firefighters have been injured, and more than 240 buildings have been destroyed by the flames. Smoke from the Saumos fire reached the Bordeaux urban area and, farther north, was seen in Royan, in the department of Charente-Maritime, and as far as the departments of Vienne and Deux-Sèvres. These fires are considered the most devastating in France in more than 50 years, although they have not surpassed the 1949 fires, which killed 82 people and burned 52,000 hectares (130,000 acres). They occurred in the context of a drought episode and heat waves in France and Europe, whose high intensity was made significantly more likely by climate change caused by human activities, particularly the burning of coal, oil and natural gas.
Text from the Wikipedia article 2026 Landes forest wildfire, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.