Massive evacuation in France: 44,000 people flee fires near Cap Ferret, extraordinary operation by sea and land

An evacuation plan of unprecedented scale has been set in motion by French authorities on the Cap Ferret peninsula, in the southwest of the country, as flames continue to spread rapidly in the region.

According to official data, the fires have already engulfed more than 125,000 hectares of land, an area exceeding the size of the capital Paris. In the last two days alone, around 44,000 residents and holidaymakers have been forced to abandon the threatened areas.

Sophie Brocas, the governor of the Gironde region, announced that the evacuation process is being carried out in a coordinated manner. She added that citizens were alerted through emergency messages sent directly to their mobile phones, with the request to leave the threatened areas without delay.

To prevent traffic overload, the alerts were distributed in a segmented pattern, covering different villages and sectors in turn. Residents were instructed to use the provincial road D106, which constitutes the only land exit from the peninsula.

Those who did not have vehicles were evacuated by sea. The municipality of Arcachon reported that so far more than 800 people have been transported by boat from Cap Ferret, while hundreds of others have arrived at the port with their suitcases.

David Laforgue, municipal councillor of Cap Ferret, stressed that the entire process unfolded without obstacles, recalling that a similar drill had been organized in 2025, following the catastrophic fires of 2022. The safety plan, approved in July 2023, prioritizes the most vulnerable groups and provides for the activation of a massive sea evacuation in case the flames block the D106 road, to avoid isolating the population on the peninsula.

During the summer months, the Cap Ferret peninsula hosts up to 150,000 visitors, a figure that turns this operation into a major test for French emergency capacities.

According to emergency scenarios, if the situation requires, at least 27 passenger ships and 33 buses can be mobilized to transport evacuees to reception centers in Arcachon. The planned capacity reaches 12,000 people within the first 24 hours and up to 14,000 people in the following days.