France deploys A400M as wildfires force Tour de France Paris stage cut

Lege-capferret,UPDATED: Jul 26, 2026 00:16 IST

France stepped up its response to major wildfires on Saturday by sending a large military cargo plane to drop flame retardant, while Tour de France organisers cut the final stage in Paris so some security personnel could be moved to fire-hit areas. The blazes, which have forced tens of thousands to leave their homes, are among the latest wildfires affecting southern Europe this week.

Across the region, more than 250,000 people have been displaced, including about 70,000 evacuated in central Spain. One man died in Manises in the Valencia region, local authorities said, marking the first reported death in the fires so far.

In south-western France, an A400M military transport aircraft specially adapted for firefighting flew low over drought-hit woodland, releasing an ochre-coloured plume of retardant as crews on the ground battled flames that authorities feared could move closer to Bordeaux. Race organisers and the Paris police department said Sunday's 21st and final stage of the Tour de France would be shortened because part of the race's security team would instead "reinforce the response efforts in the areas affected by the wildfires", under what they called "exceptional measures made necessary by the situation".

Instead of starting from Thoiry, west of Paris, riders will race only inside the capital on an 89-kilometre circuit, down from the 133-kilometre route originally planned. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said fire crews were preparing for a possible west-to-east wind shift on Saturday afternoon that could drive flames nearer to Bordeaux. He described the fight ahead as a "long and very difficult" one.

Nunez said the fire was about 30 kilometres west of Bordeaux and had eased somewhat overnight. The prefect of the Gironde region said the blaze grew into "a firestorm" on Friday after starting earlier in the week and warned that it "remains dangerous" despite progress by firefighters. Authorities ordered evacuations in areas between the fire and Bordeaux, including parts of the city's western suburbs and nearby towns and villages.

The government deployed soldiers to support fire crews and rushed 1.5 million face masks to protect people from heavy smoke. Sebastien Lecornu said the Gironde fire had become so intense on Friday that it began generating its own winds. In Bordeaux, officials housed thousands of evacuees at an exhibition centre, where food and shelter were being provided. The mayor said the site could take up to 10,000 people if needed. The city's airport remained open, but bus and tram services were suspended.

Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas said evacuation orders were sent through special mobile phone alerts telling residents to leave. She said about 140 homes had been destroyed in the region. The A400M joined at least 18 other aircraft and helicopters dropping water and retardant over Gironde in rotation through smoke-filled skies.

Authorities in both France and Spain said the scale and force of the fires had caught them off guard. Firefighters in Spain said the blazes were spreading too fast and too violently to be attacked head-on. In France, some people fled by boat as flames swept through tourist towns on the Atlantic coast.

"We've never seen anything like this," said Javier Organista, a resident of El Tiemblo, west of Madrid, where fire damaged a well-known chestnut grove. "When we saw the flames coming into our town, surrounding us, leaving us with practically no way out, all the neighbours joined together to try to stop its advance." He added: "It's just really sad."

Spain deployed 2,600 firefighters, police officers and other emergency personnel to two fires west of Madrid, backed by 19 water-dropping aircraft and helicopters. France sent 1,400 firefighters to the Gironde fire and hundreds more to another wildfire farther south in the Landes region. Authorities said dozens of firefighters were injured as residents fled by car and police went door to door asking people to leave.

Successive heatwaves that arrived unusually early and with severe intensity this year have left forests and scrubland dangerously dry. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said fires had already burned 130,000 hectares of forest in Spain this year, compared with an annual average of 100,000 hectares over the past decade. Visiting a command post west of Madrid on Saturday, he said improved weather offered "a window of opportunity" for crews to bring the fires under control. The Madrid regional government later said the blazes had weakened as winds and temperatures fell.

The death reported on Saturday was in Manises, in the fire-affected Valencia region. Other European countries, including Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Slovakia, Germany and Switzerland, were providing or preparing to send water-dropping planes and helicopters to help Spain and France as both countries continued to battle fast-moving wildfires.

With PTI Inputs

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