The blaze was particularly active during the night in La Teste-de-Buch, near Arcachon, where nearly 2,000 additional hectares were destroyed by fire, for a total of 6,500 hectares for a week according to the prefecture.
In Landiras, in the south of the department, 12,800 hectares were devoured by the flames.
A third fire in progress, which took Monday in Vensac in the Médoc, burned 70 hectares and forced 500 people to a preventive evacuation, according to the prefecture.
In total, more than 37,000 people, residents or vacationers, had to leave their homes because of the fires in Gironde, which are “still not fixed”. In La Teste, an Ehpad was evacuated as a preventive measure during the night.
About 2,000 firefighters, with reinforcements from all over France, are mobilized.
Monday evening, the Bordeaux prosecutor’s office indicated that a man was in police custody for his alleged role in the Landiras fire. The investigations point to “a deliberately malicious act”.
A shift in the wind pushed the smoke from the two giant fires northwards and since Monday evening they have enveloped the metropolis of Bordeaux, accompanied by an acrid smell.
“There is no risk for the population”, explained the departmental fire and rescue service of Gironde, which assured to have received thousands of calls in the night.
The Department asked not to call the emergency services: “If you are afraid of breathing in the particles, put on a mask that you were using to protect yourself from Covid. You have to wait for the wind to drop”.
Smoke and smells were perceived as far as Charente and Deux-Sèvres, according to the authorities.
In La Teste, the fire notably carried away the five campsites evacuated of their 6,000 occupants on July 13, including that of Dune-Les Flots Bleus, immortalized by the films “Camping”.
“Patrick is crying,” tweeted actor Franck Dubosc, who plays the main character, Patrick Chirac.
