The Saumos megafire, which scorched 42,000 hectares across the Gironde department in southwestern France, was officially declared “extinguished” on Monday, September 28, more than two months after it first ignited. It stands as the largest wildfire by area in France since 1949.
“The Saumos forest fire, which covered 42,000 hectares this summer, including 37,296 hectares destroyed, is now extinguished,” state authorities announced in a statement.
A Fire That Threatened Bordeaux and Cap Ferret
The blaze broke out on July 22 in Saumos, within the vast Landes de Gascogne forest massif. It quickly threatened the highly popular Cap Ferret peninsula and the outskirts of the Bordeaux metropolitan area, generating a “pyrocumulonimbus” — a fire-induced thunderstorm.
Approximately 224,000 people were subject to evacuation operations before the fire’s advance was halted and it was declared “contained” on August 1. Nevertheless, it continued to smolder for several weeks in the form of residual hot spots.
‘The Largest Operation’ in Modern Civil Security History
“After several weeks of mobilization and monitoring, firefighters and all those involved in fighting the blaze have durably brought the fire under control,” the prefecture emphasized, noting that the disaster caused “no human casualties.”
In total, 3,300 firefighters from across France joined forces with military personnel, police officers, foresters, farmers, and volunteers in what Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas described in early August as “the largest operation” against fire in the modern history of France’s Civil Security agency.
Forestry work in the devastated zone only resumed on September 8, with intensive felling and removal of burned timber set to continue in the coming weeks to secure the massif against falling trees and potential pest infestations.
A Record Wildfire Season Across France
The Saumos megafire covered the largest area recorded in France since a deadly forest fire in the Landes de Gascogne in 1949, which ravaged approximately 50,000 hectares.
Since this summer, roughly 98,000 hectares have burned across mainland France due to 21,000 fire starts — a level five times higher than the average of the past 20 years and a record since 1976, according to a provisional assessment from the National Forestry Office.
