Wildfire Spread Slows in Southern France, But Blaze Remains Uncontained, Officials Say

About 40,000 acres have been scorched in the Aude region, prompting evacuations and the deployment of military forces to support firefighting efforts.

An aerial view of a wildfire, near the village of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, France, on Aug. 6, 2025. Securite Civile/Handout via Reuters

French officials said on Thursday the spread of wildfires in its Mediterranean region near Spain has slowed down but hasn’t yet been brought under control.

The fire, which has burned about 40,000 acres in the Aude region of southern France, began on Tuesday afternoon and continued spreading on Wednesday.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that “all the nation’s resources were mobilized” and urged the public to exercise the utmost caution and strictly follow the instructions issued by authorities.

Firefighters and the military were called in to help, as the fires, burning an area larger than Paris, left one person dead, several injured and in critical condition, and three missing, according to Aude authorities.

Head of the Aude fire brigade, Christophe Magny, told French broadcaster BFM TV that the blaze was progressing more slowly on Thursday but was still not contained.

The destruction caused by the wildfires exceeds the total burned in both 2023 and 2024, according to French Environment Minister Agnès Pannier‑Runacher.

“I commend the total mobilization of firefighters and rescue forces who have been working tirelessly since yesterday to combat the flames. I extend all my support to the elected officials and the population,” she said on X on Wednesday.

Aude authorities said on Wednesday that more than 2,100 firefighters and 500 vehicles have been deployed in the municipality of Ribaute, supported by personnel from the gendarmerie and the armed forces.

According to the Minister of Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, more than 200 firefighters from several military regiments have also been deployed to battle the blaze.

In an update on X on Wednesday, Lecornu said that military personnel from various combat helicopter regiments, as well as naval firefighters, had also been sent to the wildfire zone, reinforcing the engineering teams already on the ground.

Affected Areas

Residents in the village of Jonquières have been evacuated, while those in surrounding areas have been instructed to remain in their homes, unless formally advised to evacuate by local authorities.

Two campsites were cleared as a precautionary step.

Jonquières Mayor Jacques Piraux told BFM TV that more than half or three-quarters of the village had burned down, describing the scenes as “hellish.”

“It looks like a lunar landscape, everything is burned,” Piraux said.

Among other affected villages are Lagrasse, Fabrezan, Tournissan, Coustouge, and Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse.

Heatwaves Across Europe

The Aude wildfires are the latest in a series of devastating blazes sweeping across Europe amid a prolonged summer heatwave that began in July.

In Marseille, France’s second-largest city and home to approximately 900,000 residents, a fire that reached the city’s outskirts in July injured more than 100 people.

Regional authorities in Spain said late on Wednesday that a wildfire raging near the Mediterranean tourist town of Tarifa that prompted evacuations had been “stabilized.”

Antonio Sanz, Andalusia’s regional interior minister, announced on X that evacuated residents were authorized to return following the successful containment of the blaze.

Elsewhere, Cyprus was affected by wildfires in July, where two people were killed and hundreds evacuated as flames ripped through southern communities amid soaring temperatures.