Key Facts

• About 330,000 people have been evacuated in France and Spain because of wildfires.
• The wildfire in the Gironde region of France has burned 420 square kilometers (162 square miles), about four times the size of Paris.
• Around 220,000 people were evacuated just from the Gironde fire, possibly the largest peacetime civilian evacuation in France outside of war.
• Firefighters used 23 planes and helicopters to drop water and fire retardant to control the flames.
• The fire has created unusual weather, including France’s first recorded pyrocumulonimbus cloud—a thundercloud formed by fire heat that causes lightning and wind.
• Despite some homes burning, a few tourists chose to continue or debate continuing their holidays near the fire.
• France’s national weather service has issued heat warnings, and Europe is experiencing its hottest June on record, worsening fire risks.
• The fires have damaged at least 150 homes in Le Porge, near Bordeaux, and authorities remain cautious about new flare-ups as weather conditions change.