A new fire broke out yesterday, Thursday, in southwestern France, in the vast Landes forest, reducing 4,000 stremmata to ashes. Authorities ordered the evacuation of approximately 400 residents for safety reasons.

“The situation is dire,” the Landes prefecture reported on Thursday evening, where 37,000 stremmata of forest were burned in late July, while the inferno reduced more than 400,000 stremmata to ashes in neighboring Gironde.

“The wind has completely changed direction; it’s now heading toward the community of Luglon,” which is located 25 kilometers northwest of Mont-de-Marsan, Fire Chief Romain Moutard told the French Press Agency.

ALERT – A major wildfire has broken out in the Landes region, near the town of Luglon, which is currently being evacuated. Nearly 500 hectares have already been destroyed by the fire. Hundreds of firefighters are rushing to the scene, and farmers are arriving in… pic.twitter.com/1sSQOarqEd

— Infos Françaises (@InfosFrancaises) August 13, 2026

The approximately 400 residents of Luglon were evacuated as a precautionary measure, according to a statement from the prefecture, and were taken to a nearby town.

In western France, a fire in Gérard that “is now under control” forced 2,000 campers to evacuate the area. The situation on another fire front, south of Rennes, has stabilized but “has not yet been brought under control,” having burned 2,250 stremmata.

Fire in the Landes: the blaze has spread across 600 hectares; 500 people have been evacuated pic.twitter.com/3J6886cfjA

— BFM (@BFMTV) August 13, 2026

In Pas-de-Calais, the fires that have been raging since Wednesday in a popular tourist area near the northeastern coast of France “have been contained” but are not yet under control.

Source: KYPE