A wildfire that started on the D652 after a van caught fire on Thursday afternoon spread across more than 2,500 hectares in the Landes by Friday morning, forcing the evacuation of 25,000 inhabitants and vacationers from Biscarrosse and Parentis-en-Born.
The scale of the response matched the speed of the fire. More than 500 firefighters were mobilized, with two Canadair aircraft and eight Air Tractor aircraft flying on Friday morning while the D652 remained closed in both directions. By 6 a.m., the latest report from the town hall of Biscarrosse put the burned area at more than 2,500 hectares, and at least 105 habitations had been partially or totally destroyed.
Marie-François Nadau said Parentis-en-Born was not affected at the time she spoke, even though preventive evacuations had already been carried out there during the night because the fire was moving toward the commune. She said the campgrounds were closed and tourists had taken their belongings to leave, while a few dozen people were still waiting at the gymnasium for housing solutions.
That detail captures the awkward reality of the day: Parentis-en-Born had not yet been hit directly, but it was already being emptied. Gilles Clavreul said new assessments had been carried out since the start of the night, and he said bulldozers were being used to stop the flames, with clear-cuts also approved between Parentis and Biscarrosse to try to break the fire’s advance.
The fire was still progressing on Friday morning, and the return of evacuees was not yet fixed. With the burned area still being reassessed and the line of the blaze still active, the next step is not a cleanup but containment.
