Live: France deploys military plane as wildfires spread towards Bordeaux

Home Europe Live Issued on: 25/07/2026 - 06:55Modified: 25/07/2026 - 12:06 This handout photograph taken on July 24, 2026 by the Caporal-chef Damien Rembert of the SDIS33 (Departmental Fire and Rescue Service) shows French firefighters trying to extinguish the wildfire near Saumos and Sainte-Hélène, northwest of Bordeaux, in the Gironde department. © Caporal-chef Damien Rembert, SDIS33 handout via AFP French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has ordered the armed forces to deploy an A400M military transport aircraft as early as Saturday to help combat fires raging in the southwest, his office said. Intense wildfires have forced more than 200,000 people to flee their homes in southwestern France and central Spain. Follow our liveblog for all the latest updates. Yesterday's key developments: French President Emmanuel Macron ordered the military to mobilise as wildfires ripped through France's southwest, threatening villages and approaching the city of Bordeaux. The Spanish government declared a “national emergency” in the Madrid region and in the province of Avila, near the capital. Some 110,000 people were evacuated from areas threatened by wildfires in France's southwest that have s...