France: Wildfires continue to ravage France as minister warns of 'highly unfavorable' situation.

.SAINT JEAN DILLAC, FRANCE - JULY 26, 2026: Wildfires continued to spread across southwestern and southeastern France on Sunday, with Interior Minister Laurent Nunez warning that the situation remained "highly unfavorable." "Another difficult night on the wildfire front. The situation remains highly unfavorable," Nunez said on US social media platform X. Nunez said the wildfire in the southwestern Gironde department became "extremely intense and unpredictable" overnight as it advanced toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area. He said the fire has burned 42,000 hectares (103,784 acres), while the total number of people evacuated since the blaze began has risen to nearly 220,000, including 50,000 moved to safety overnight in several municipalities near Bordeaux. Nunez said 2,500 firefighters and nearly 1,500 military personnel remained deployed, adding that 18 aerial firefighting assets have been operating since Sunday morning, including an A400M aircraft. He also said a separate wildfire in the southwestern Landes department has burned 3,600 hectares (8,896 acres) and forced the evacuation of 36,000 people. Although a flare-up was brought under control on Saturday evening, he warned that the fire's perimeter remained highly active. Nunez said nearly 3,000 people have also been evacuated as a precaution in the southeastern Var department, where the expected return of mistral winds raised concerns that conditions could deteriorate. The Var prefecture said on Sunday morning that the wildfire, which began six days earlier, has burned 4,500 hectares (11,119 acres), according to broadcaster BFMTV. Later in the day, Simon Babre, the prefect of Var, said the fire is still active and warned that villages previously evacuated could face renewed evacuation orders. In the meantime, the Gironde prefecture provided an updated assessment of the wildfire's spread later in the day. According to the prefecture, the number of destroyed homes rose to 240, while 75 firefighters have been injured since the start of the blaze. As a precaution due to the wildfire approaching railway tracks in some areas, railway operator SNCF cancelled all direct trains connecting Bordeaux, the Basque Country and Bearn. Meanwhile, Etienne Marcuz, an associate fellow at French think tank FRS, warned that the fires could potentially threaten strategic sites for France's nuclear deterrence capabilities. "While the unprecedented forest fires in Gironde primarily represent an environmental and humanitarian disaster, they are also threatening highly strategic sites linked to France’s nuclear deterrence capabilities," Marcuz wrote on US social media platform X. He warned that the fire appeared dangerously close to the Center for Scientific and Technical Study of Aquitaine (CESTA), which is one of the main sites of the French Atomic Energy Commission’s Military Applications Division. "The site notably houses the Laser Megajoule, a nearly unique facility in the world that plays a key role in France’s nuclear weapons simulation program," Marcuz said. He further warned that the fire also threatens several other strategic defense sites, including an ArianeGroup facility, a Dassault plant where Rafale fighter jets are assembled, and the Biscarrosse missile test center.