BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 25. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes as massive wildfires continue to spread across southwestern France, with shifting winds driving smoke and flames toward new communities and overwhelming emergency services.
Among those evacuated was Mohammed Laabar, a 35-year-old truck driver from the town of Salaunes, who fled with his wife and three-year-old son after flames approached their neighborhood. Carrying a pre-prepared emergency survival kit, the family initially sought safety in nearby Bordeaux.
However, only hours later, changing winds pushed thick smoke and toxic fumes from the fires into Bordeaux itself, highlighting the unpredictable nature of the disaster.
"We'll see this more often in the future, that's for sure," Laabar told Reuters from a temporary evacuation center, where hundreds of displaced residents spent the night.
French authorities said 197,000 people have been evacuated from southwestern France after fast-moving fires surrounded the Cap Ferret peninsula on the Atlantic coast, one of the country's most popular summer tourist destinations.
The unprecedented wildfire crisis follows a record-breaking heatwave that officials say contributed to nearly 6,000 excess deaths across France.
President Emmanuel Macron has ordered the military to assist firefighters, who have been battling multiple large-scale blazes across the country for days under extreme weather conditions.
Officials continue to warn that strong winds, high temperatures and prolonged drought are creating conditions that could allow the fires to spread further, complicating evacuation efforts and threatening additional communities.
