Western Europe Wildfire Threat Eases as France Lifts Evacuations, Greece Faces New Fires
French officials announced on August 1 that evacuations in the Gironde region were ended, allowing roughly 200,000 residents to return home, as strong winds sparked new wildfires on the Greek mainland. The evacuations followed a wildfire that broke out near Lège-Cap Ferret on July 22, prompting the evacuation of about 20,000 people and the deployment of 700 firefighters.
The blaze spread across the Gironde, leading to successive evacuations that eventually displaced more than 220,000 people, the use of an A400M aircraft to drop retardant near Bordeaux, and the conversion of a Bordeaux exhibition centre into a shelter. Volunteers later joined firefighters as the fire burned 42,000 hectares, and authorities began allowing tens of thousands of evacuees to return beginning July 31.
