France deploys boats to evacuate Cap Ferret as wildfires spread
French officials ordered a full evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula, using boats to rescue residents amid rapidly expanding wildfires that have forced tens of thousands to flee.
French authorities ordered the complete evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula on Friday, deploying boats from three piers to rescue residents as wildfires swept the popular tourist area. The peninsula, located about 70 km west of Bordeaux, is accessible by a single road, prompting urgent evacuation efforts, prefect Sophie Brocas said.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported that roughly 40,000 people have been evacuated from Cap Ferret, with only a few hundred leaving by sea. The fire, which expanded by up to 1,000 hectares per hour overnight, has destroyed 53 homes and a campsite, according to Marc Vermeulen, director of Gironde’s Fire and Rescue Service. He noted that strong winds carried embers, igniting spot fires in the town center.
A separate blaze near Biscarrosse, about 40 km south of Cap Ferret, has prompted the evacuation of an additional 23,000 people. France has mobilized about 1,000 firefighters, and President Emmanuel Macron announced that reinforcements from Croatia, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are on their way.
The fire season across Europe is unusually severe this year, with France recording more than 300 wildfires, far above the typical annual average of 93, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. Similar conditions have forced Spain to declare a national emergency, evacuating over 10,000 people from towns west of Madrid.