French wildfire near Bordeaux contained as 1,500 firefighters battle separate blaze in Provence

Europe’s wildfire crisis fractures as Greece evacuates and France guards megafire scar 0 seconds of 49 secondsVolume 0% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 00:00 00:49 00:49 More Videos 01:03 Iran war's global effects: In Italy, a farmer battles rising costs of fuel and fertilizers 00:49 Wildfires force George Clooney's family to evacuate their home in southern France 01:54 Crackdown on Indonesia's dump sites threatens garbage pickers 01:37 Football industry reacts to UEFA promise to boycott FIFA tournaments over World Cup investors' plan 01:06 Argentina’s World Cup victory over England rekindles historic Malvinas claim 00:46 UEFA declares no confidence in FIFA President over failed World Cup equity plan 00:58 Senior FIFA executive says staff were deceived over Infantino's World Cup sell-off plan 00:42 Oscar-winning Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard dies in crash Close 1 of 8 | Greek authorities issued three new evacuation orders early Sunday as fires spread into the western Attica district that includes Athens, threatening communities and an industrial district on the northern outskirts of Megara. (AP video shot by: Michael Varaklas) More Videos 0 seconds of 49 secondsVolume 90% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 00:00 00:49 00:49 More Videos Close 2 of 8 | On Thursday, July 23, Matthieu Plessis drove through the French town of Le Porge, as flames raced along both sides of the road. A week later, Plessis returned once again to what remained of his ruined property. He lost his home, his bicycle repair business, his vehicles, his tools and most of his belongings. (AP Video by Nicolas Garriga) More Videos 0 seconds of 1 minute, 10 secondsVolume 90% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 Auto1080p720p540p360p270p180p 00:00 01:10 01:10 More Videos Close 3 of 8 | firefighters in France’s Gironde region stayed on high alert Friday, and continued to extinguish flare-ups while residents and volunteers supported emergency crews and families affected by the fire. 4 of 8 | A firefighting helicopter drops water over a smoke-filled forest during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas) 5 of 8 | A firefighting helicopter drops water over a smoke-filled forest during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas) 6 of 8 | A firefighter walks through a charred forest near Blagon, during wildfires, southwestern France, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner) 7 of 8 | An aerial view of a homes burned by wildfires in Le Porge, southwestern France, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga) 8 of 8 | A firefighting helicopter releases water over a wildfire near Correns, southeastern France, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (Clement Mahoudeau/Pool Photo via AP) By THOMAS ADAMSON and NICOLAS GARRIGA Updated 1:16 PM MESZ, August 2, 2026 Leer en español Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit LACANAU, France (AP) — Europe’s wildfire crisis fractured along starkly different fronts Sunday: gale-force winds drove flames deeper into the Athens region and forced fresh evacuations, France guarded a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris against renewed spread, and Spain’s major fires finally stopped advancing. The center of immediate danger was Greece. Gale-force winds drove flames deeper into western Attica, the administrative region that includes the capital, threatening villages and an industrial district outside the city of Megara as violent gusts prevented firefighting aircraft from collecting water from the sea. But the easing emergency farther west offered little sense of an ending. France’s largest wildfire remained contained after 224,000 people were forced to flee in what may have been the largest peacetime evacuation in French history. Yet active pockets still burned across 420 square kilometers (162 square miles) of devastated forest. Thousands remained unable to return home, and nearly 3,000 firefighters were deployed against the Gironde megafire and a second blaze in Provence that had stopped advancing but remained uncontained. Fires in France and Spain alone have driven roughly a third of a million people from homes and vacation sites, emptied communities at the height of the European summer and stretched firefighters, aircraft and emergency services across simultaneous disasters. The crisis is unfolding on the world’s fastest-warming continent. Europe has heated at more than twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Europe’s wildfire crisis eases in west as danger shifts east to Greece 1 MIN READ More than 200,000 people flee raging wildfires in France and Spain, some escaping by boat 4 MIN READ France and Spain battle wildfires as more than 250,000 people are forced to flee homes 4 MIN READ Higher temperatures and prolonged drought leave forests and scrubland drier and more combustible, allowing fires to spread faster and burn more intensely. Human-caused climate change doubled the likelihood of the extreme fire conditions that fueled the French blazes scientists at World Weather Attribution calculated in a rapid analysis Thursday while the fires were still burning. Gale-force winds drive flames through Athens region Greek authorities ordered three more communities evacuated Sunday as flames advanced through western Attica, threatening villages along the Geraneia mountains and an industrial district outside Megara. Nearly 500 firefighters and 23 aircraft were deployed, but gale-force winds strengthened the fire while crippling the response. The winds drove flames through dry forest and made it impossible for some aircraft to descend to the sea for water. Smoke rose over the mountains as evacuation orders were issued for the communities of Kandili, Agia Skepi and Toutouli. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was briefed on the operation, with authorities particularly concerned about Porto Germeno, a seaside community on the Gulf of Corinth. The fire began Friday near Agios Vasileios before sweeping toward Porto Germeno and into the forested mountains west of Athens. firefighters evacuated 254 people by sea from Agios Vasileios on Friday and another 12 from Porto Germeno on Saturday — an escape route of last resort in coastal communities where fire and smoke can cut the few roads out. wildfire meteorologist Theodore Giannaros estimated Saturday that the blaze had affected 40 to 50 square kilometers (15 to 19 square miles), though authorities had not issued an official figure. “A pristine forest, a paradise, was surrendered to the hands of the fire,” local farmer Minas Tzortzanis said Saturday. “There are no words to explain what has happened. Destruction. Total destruction.” The danger carried grim resonance in Greece. In 2018, a wind-driven wildfire trapped residents in the seaside community of Mati, east of Athens, killing 104 people in Europe’s deadliest wildfire this century. In southwestern France, the Gironde megafire remained contained Sunday but was still burning after scorching 420 square kilometers (162 square miles) of forest in just 10 days. “The fire is now fixed, which does not mean that the fire is extinguished,” the Gironde prefecture said Sunday, using the French firefighting term for a blaze whose advance has been stopped and whose perimeter has been contained. The region remained under France’s highest red forest-fire alert. Dry conditions and soaring temperatures around Bordeaux, combined with afternoon winds, created a continued risk of renewed flames. Additional firefighters from Ukraine, Lithuania and French Polynesia were expected Sunday and Monday to reinforce the operation. Hundreds of kilometers away, nearly 1,500 firefighters were battling a separate fire in the southeastern Var department that tore through roughly 18 square kilometers (7 square miles) in little more than a day. Authorities said the fire in the Gros Bessillon hills was stabilized Sunday morning, meaning its perimeter had not expanded overnight. But unlike the Gironde fire, it had not yet been declared contained. Firefighting aircraft supported crews working to keep the flames away from villages among the vineyards, olive groves and wooded hills of the region known as Green Provence. About 2,500 people were evacuated as the fire threatened communities. The blaze was the fourth major fire to strike the central Var since July 19. A separate, smaller fire near Brignoles earlier in the week forced Hollywood actor George Clooney and his family, along with about 700 other residents, to evacuate before it was brought under control. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said France’s wildfires were generally under control but cautioned that conditions remained highly changeable. He also announced that a national coordinator attached to the prime minister’s office would oversee reconstruction in fire-ravaged areas. More than 1,170 square kilometers (452 square miles) have burned across France since the beginning of the year. Adamson reported from Paris. Michael Varaklas in Megara, Greece contributed to this report THOMAS ADAMSON Adamson is a foreign reporter based in Paris for The Associated Press. He covers European politics, culture and style. He has reported across the continent in an over two-decade career. twitter mailto