French Gendarmerie rescues family from village near new fire outbreak

France’s gendarmerie, a branch of the French armed forces, have shared footage of an evacuation of a family from a village near a new fire outbreak.

“All state services are fully mobilised to protect the population and property, day and night,” it wrote in a post on X alongside the footage.

Maira Butt26 July 2026 10:30

Bordeaux fire was 'generating its own wind and spreading erratically', says French minister in new update

France’s interior minister Laurent Nunez has provided an update following another “tough night” of wildfires.

“The situation remains highly unfavourable,” he wrote in a post on X on Sunday.

“At the start of the night, in Gironde, the fire became extremely virulent and unpredictable again, generating its own wind and spreading erratically toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area.

“By the end of the night, it had calmed down somewhat..

He said that the burned area now stands at 42,300 hectares of land and that an additional 50,000 people were evacuated.

Maira Butt26 July 2026 10:10

Where are fires raging in France as authorities consider Bordeaux evacuation?

Maira Butt26 July 2026 10:00

In pictures: Fires continue to rage west of Bordeaux

Maira Butt26 July 2026 09:48

Mapped: The areas in France and Spain affected by raging wildfires

Over 280,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes as wildfires continue to rage across Spain and France.

Government officials from both countries have commented on the historic nature of the blaze, with Madrid’s regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso describing it “the worst fire in the history of the region”.

“The fires ‌which are hitting our country have reached a level that has never ​been seen before,” French ‌prime minister Sebastien Lecornu wrote on X on Saturday.

Lecornu promised that over 1.5 million face masks would be provided as even areas unaffected by the worst of the blaze saw air quality deteriorate and smoke spread.

Below we look at the areas affected and evacuated as a result of the wildfires.

Maira Butt26 July 2026 09:30

Bordeaux officials considering 'total evacuation' of city

Bordeaux City Council is exploring options to deal with the various ways the wildfires nearby could evolve, including a total evacuation of the city, a spokesperson told Sky News.

The Council is "currently studying scenarios for all possible ways the fire could evolve", they said, which includes a total evacuation of the city, if needed.

Surrounding areas have been evacuated as the fire advanced amid high winds. The city is the sixth largest in France.

Maira Butt26 July 2026 09:00

Watch: Aerial view as authorities attempt to put out France wildfires

Maira Butt26 July 2026 08:30

Oregon fire looms near town as fourth firefighter dies weeks after Colorado blaze

As dry, windy weather fueled a big wildfire near a city in central Oregon, a fourth firefighter died after he and several colleagues last month were overcome by a fast-moving wildfire near the Colorado-Utah border, authorities said Saturday.

Nathan Matthews, 43, of Lincoln, Nebraska, died Friday, the federal Interior Department said in a statement. Meanwhile, several fierce wildfires in a summer of big ones continued burning across the western US.

One of the worst – and the one deemed top priority for firefighting efforts – was just a few miles (5km) north of Sisters, a central Oregon city of about 3,000 people.

Namita Singh26 July 2026 08:00

Wildfire spreads to northeastern Algerian province

A wildfire spread in Haddada municipality in Algeria's northeastern Souk Ahras province on Saturday, as firefighters responded to the blaze.

Footage released by Algeria's Civil Protection showed firefighters battling flames in a forested area as smoke rose above the wildfire.

Namita Singh26 July 2026 06:00

High winds make fighting Spanish wildfires harder, officials say

Winds in Spain with gusts of up ​to 60kmph (38mph) are complicating the fight ‌against out-of-control wildfires west of Madrid.

Two separate wildfires in the Madrid region ​combined on Friday and became one ​huge blaze, but so far they have ⁠not merged with another in Avila, in ​the neighbouring Castilla y Leon region.

The fires have ​so far forced more than 30,000 people to flee their homes in the Madrid region and more ​than 20,000 to be confined at home, ​the ministry said on Saturday, in what officials have ‌called ⁠the region's worst fire on record.

Overnight weather conditions had helped the firefighters.

"The change in weather conditions (less wind, higher humidity, and lower temperature) ​has greatly ​benefited the ⁠fight against the forest fires, which have advanced little and decreased ​in intensity," the central government in ​Madrid ⁠said on Saturday morning.

Plumes of thick smoke could be seen in the sky west of ⁠the ​capital. More than 9,000 hectares ​have burned in the wildfires in the Madrid region, authorities ​said.

Namita Singh26 July 2026 05:04