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24 July 2026
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Two French firefighters die tackling building fire near Bordeaux airport
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Two firefighters have died while battling a huge blaze near Bordeaux's airport in south-west France, officials said. Reports in French media say the fire, near one of the parking lots at the airport, originated from a brush fire and then spread to a building. Pictures shared on social media show passengers getting off a plane as a massive plume of smoke rises nearby. A number of flights scheduled to arrive at Bordeaux–Mérignac airport have been delayed. Some 100 firefighters, backed by specialist aircraft, were trying to extinguish the fire.
The country's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said he had been informed about the deaths by officials in the Gironde department. Speaking during Tuesday's question-and-answer session at the French parliament, Nuñez also said he would travel to Gironde "as soon as possible" to oversee the firefighting efforts.
Gironde is one of several French departments ravaged by wildfires in recent days, due to a series of unusual and prolonged heatwaves.
Also on Tuesday, a huge fire broke out in the south-eastern Var department. The blaze in the Pontevès commune "is currently out of control and is evolving rapidly", said the PSFDF volunteer association, which monitors fires across France.
It said 600 firefighters and rescuers had been deployed to contain the fire, and 150 people had already been evacuated.
France has registered nearly 11 000 fires since the beginning of the year, with President Emmanuel Macron saying last week that there had not been so many blazes in the country since World War Two.
Tuesday's satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis) shows that more than 42 000 hectares (103 784 acres) burned in France between January and mid-July, surpassing the previous record set in 2022.
Climate change is driving up temperatures around the world, and Europe is the fastest warming continent, heating up twice as fast as the global average, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. This is causing increased summer heatwaves, greater pressure on Europe's water supply and more intense wildfires.
Aources: BBC, Reuters, The Mirror
The country's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said he had been informed about the deaths by officials in the Gironde department. Speaking during Tuesday's question-and-answer session at the French parliament, Nuñez also said he would travel to Gironde "as soon as possible" to oversee the firefighting efforts.
Gironde is one of several French departments ravaged by wildfires in recent days, due to a series of unusual and prolonged heatwaves.
Also on Tuesday, a huge fire broke out in the south-eastern Var department. The blaze in the Pontevès commune "is currently out of control and is evolving rapidly", said the PSFDF volunteer association, which monitors fires across France.
It said 600 firefighters and rescuers had been deployed to contain the fire, and 150 people had already been evacuated.
France has registered nearly 11 000 fires since the beginning of the year, with President Emmanuel Macron saying last week that there had not been so many blazes in the country since World War Two.
Tuesday's satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis) shows that more than 42 000 hectares (103 784 acres) burned in France between January and mid-July, surpassing the previous record set in 2022.
Climate change is driving up temperatures around the world, and Europe is the fastest warming continent, heating up twice as fast as the global average, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. This is causing increased summer heatwaves, greater pressure on Europe's water supply and more intense wildfires.
Aources: BBC, Reuters, The Mirror
