Europe wildfire burns across France and Spain, forcing mass evacuations

A Europe wildfire burning across parts of France and Spain has forced more than 300,000 people to evacuate and consumed hundreds of thousands of acres, according to CNBC and AFP accounts. CNBC reported that the blaze started last Wednesday in Gironde in southwest France, where nearly 104,000 acres have burned, while around 190,000 acres have been affected in the Avila and Toledo areas near western Madrid.

The emergency has placed heavy pressure on firefighting services across affected regions. In France, the Bordeaux area and nearby coastal communities have been central to the response, with images from AFP and Getty showing forests burning near Saint-Jean-d’Illac, Lege-Cap-Ferret and Marcheprime.

CNBC reported that France has recorded almost 250,000 acres burned since the start of the year, in conditions described as “unprecedented” and “historic.” The evacuation total makes the fire one of the largest such displacements in France, according to the report.

What is a pyrocumulonimbus fire cloud?

The fire has been described as a rare pyrocumulonimbus event, a dangerous fire cloud capable of producing its own thunderstorms, winds and whirlwinds. Nicolas Braz, a firefighter captain, told AFP that those conditions can make a blaze “erratic and unmanageable.”

Such fire-generated weather can complicate suppression efforts because winds and storm activity created by the fire can shift conditions around crews on the ground. The reported use of aircraft, including water and retardant drops, shows how authorities have combined aerial and ground operations in response to the scale and behavior of the blaze.

Photographs distributed by AFP and Getty showed a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 MR releasing fire retardant over forest near Marcheprime, about 30 kilometers from Bordeaux, on July 27. Other images showed a French Civil Defense Canadair CL-415 dropping water over a burning area near Barjols in southeastern France on July 26.

The human impact has also been visible in reception centers and on roads. AFP and Anadolu images showed evacuees arriving at the Parc des Expositions de Bordeaux-Lac, which was being used as a main reception site for people displaced by fires affecting the Gironde department. Getty imagery also showed smoke over parts of Madrid province, including Villamanta and San Martín de Valdeiglesias.

In Spain, photographs taken on July 27 showed drivers queuing to reach Cenicientos, a village about 80 kilometers southwest of Madrid that had been damaged by wildfire, according to AFP. The affected Spanish areas identified in the report include Avila and Toledo, extending the emergency beyond southwest France into central Spain.

The fires have unfolded during a severe heatwave, according to CNBC. Authorities and emergency services have not been reported in the account as giving a date for full containment, and the available figures describe acreage burned and evacuations rather than final damage estimates.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.