10:09 a.m. – More than 80,000 people authorized to return to Gironde
After a third “calm” night on the front of the megafire which ravaged 42,000 hectares in Gironde, still stabilized on Thursday, the prefecture authorized 84,000 new people to return home “immediately” and announced the reopening of the A63 motorway from 2 p.m.
This concerns the inhabitants of nine municipalities in the northwest south of Bordeaux: Mios, Le Barp, Cestas, Saint-Jean-d’Illac, Martignas-sur-Jalle, Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, Saint-Aubin du Médoc, Salaunes and Sainte-Hélène. As of Tuesday evening, 57,000 residents of Eysines, Mérignac and Le Haillan had already been authorized to return home. In total, more than half of the 220,000 people evacuated since the fire broke out on July 22 are no longer affected by these preventive measures.
9:51 a.m. – “CRS water launchers” deployed in Gironde
“CRS water throwing devices” have been deployed since yesterday evening to fight the fires in Gironde. “Usually dedicated to maintaining order, they will support firefighters to protect threatened homes, water the edges of fires or supply emergency vehicles with water,” specifies the National Police on X.
🚒 Faced with the fires in Gironde, all the means of the Ministry of the Interior are mobilized.
👮♂️ Since yesterday evening, CRS water throwing devices have been in place. Usually dedicated to maintaining order, they will support firefighters to protect… pic.twitter.com/ZYWjEiHUt5
— Police nationale (@PoliceNationale) July 30, 2026
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9:37 a.m. – Var: Brignoles fire under control
The virulent fire which broke out in the Var near Brignoles late Wednesday afternoon was brought under control overnight after covering 130 hectares and leading to more than 600 evacuations, the firefighters and the prefecture announced.
The fire started on the outskirts of the town, about twenty kilometers from the major Gros Bessillon fire against which firefighters fought for eight days.
#Fire #BRIGNOLES | Thursday July 30 – 9:00 a.m.
✔️ Situation update
> The fire has been under control since 3 a.m.
> Evacuation instructions remain in force for residents of the Jausserannes and Pelicon districts. pic.twitter.com/52JVBApZms
— Prefect of Var (@Prefet83) July 30, 2026
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The Brignoles fire “set” at midnight and brought under control at 3:00 a.m., is no longer “progressing but there are still fires and we now have 10 km of edge to deal with”, said Lieutenant Franck Graciano, a spokesperson for the fire brigade. Thursday morning, 270 firefighters were still mobilized, helped by four water bomber helicopters as well as a command helicopter. Four firefighters were injured while battling the fire.
9:28 a.m. – A quarter of employees prevented from working “return to work”
A quarter of employees, prevented in recent days from going to work by the gigantic fire which ravaged part of the Gironde, returned to work on Thursday, indicated the Minister of the Economy Roland Lescure on France Inter. “We had a little more than 82,000 employees who were prevented from going to work, we are now at 61,500,” said the Minister of the Economy, highlighting “good news” which “shows” that the fire “is starting to be brought under control”.
9:04 a.m. – In Gironde, firefighters “reasonably optimistic”
The megafire which ravaged 42,000 hectares in Gironde is still stabilized after a “very calm” night which makes the firefighters “reasonably optimistic”, declared Commander Matthieu Jomain, communications officer of SDIS 33.
With “80% humidity in the air this morning”, the weather conditions make “the situation much more acceptable”, indicates the officer who wants to “remain cautious”, “even if the lights gradually turn green”.
🇫🇷🚒 Burnt pines as far as the eye can see: the megafire in Gironde, which consumed 42,000 hectares and is still active, leaves a landscape of desolation ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/uHFdQQmV1t
— Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) July 30, 2026
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8:50 a.m. – End of the heatwave alert in GIronde and Landes
Gironde and Landes are returning to green alert for the heatwave, giving hope for a lull in the forest fires ravaging the region, at a time when strong heat is expected in the South-East, Météo France indicated.
Gironde returned to green alert at 6:00 a.m. Thursday. Same situation in the Landes where the fire also struck.
The forecasts from the meteorological site announce a “clear drop in temperatures in the west of the country, which allows a return to yellow or green vigilance in a certain number of departments”.
8:40 a.m. – INTERVIEW. Laurence Tubiana: “A tragic way of reassuring oneself”
Laurence Tubiana, who negotiated the Paris agreement in 2015, recalls that recent heatwaves and fires are not “exceptional” but are likely to be repeated more and more frequently with global warming, against which scientists have been warning for decades. She denounces the attempts of public authorities to exonerate themselves by directing their gaze towards individual action and hopes that the physical feeling of climate consequences will allow everyone to become aware, in a context of numerous setbacks in terms of ecology.
8:27 a.m. – 263 arrests since June 28
In total, 263 people have been arrested since June 28, including 92 minors, as part of investigations relating to the fires, according to data communicated by the government.
Since June 28, the date considered by the executive as the “start of the fire season” in the country, 263 arrests have taken place, according to this government count, which does not specify the reasons for these arrests (intentional, involuntary fire outbreaks, etc.).
“The order of magnitude is constant: we have around two thirds of arrests for intentional – and therefore criminal – fires, and a third of arrests for non-intentional fires,” said a source within the executive.
8:10 a.m. – In Madrid, “almost no more flames”
The fire in the Madrid region has not progressed for several days and has “almost no more flames”, authorities announced, describing the fire as “clearly stabilized”.
“The nighttime weather conditions made it possible (…) to cool the area and consolidate the perimeter, which is clearly stabilized, without progress for several days, with few smoking points and almost no more flames,” indicated the prefecture of the Madrid region, specifying that there no longer existed “any home” and that there remained only a thousand evacuated people.
8:01 a.m. – The fire in Gironde “still stabilized”
The megafire which ravaged 42,000 hectares in Gironde is “still stabilized” this morning after “a rather calm night”, declared the prefecture, saying to expect “rather favorable” weather with the lifting of the orange heat wave vigilance and even a few showers expected.
“The night was rather calm. This morning the fire is still stabilized. The burned surface has not changed (42,000 hectares),” wrote the prefecture in its update at 6:00 a.m., reporting “six active fires”, notably near the dunes of Grand-Crohot (municipality of Lège-Cap-Ferret) and south of Lacanau.
🔥Fire in progress in #Gironde | Update on Thursday, July 30 at 6:00 a.m.
✔️ The night was rather calm. This morning the fire is still stabilized.
➡️ The burned surface area has not changed (42,000 hectares).
➡️ Continued treatment of active fire edges and outbreaks.
6 lights… pic.twitter.com/I28yekVfWS
— Prefect of New Aquitaine and Gironde (@PrefAquitaine33) July 30, 2026
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“Rather favorable weather today: a few showers expected on the coast between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. which could affect the fire zone,” added the state services, with a drop in the mercury expected between 27°C and 34°C, compared to up to 41°C on Wednesday.
7:46 a.m. – Six hectares burned in the Fontainebleau forest
Around a hundred firefighters managed to “fix”, during the night in Seine-et-Marne, a resurgence of fire in the Fontainebleau forest, badly affected in mid-July by historic fires, we learned from the SDIS and the prefecture.
“The fire is set at Fontainebleau. We are maintaining a large system tonight and tomorrow,” announced the sub-prefect of Fontainebleau Yannis Bouzar.
The night’s news
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More than 600 people had to be evacuated Wednesday evening after the start of a new fire in the Var, south-east of Brignoles, which covered around a hundred hectares, less than 24 hours after the outbreak of the Gros Bessillon fire which covered 4,500 hectares in eight days.
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The megafire which ravaged 42,000 hectares in Gironde “did not progress” despite the intense heat felt which raised fears of “a high-risk day”, the prefect said on Wednesday evening, saying she could “consider”, if the lull is confirmed, a return to “normal”.
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A forest fire which broke out on Wednesday afternoon near Dijon covered 125 hectares without causing any injuries or damaging any homes, announced the Côte-d’Or prefecture.
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