Two arrested on suspicion of arson as firefighters battle blazes near Bordeaux


Firefighters work to extinguish a reigniting fire in Le Temple, Gironde department, amid drought conditions following a heatwave and water shortages across much of France, July 29, 2026. REUTERS/Yves Herman

BORDEAUX, France, July ⁠30 (Reuters) - Two people have been ⁠arrested on suspicion of arson as ‌firefighters battled on Thursday to prevent the spread of wildfires near Bordeaux , the local administration responsible ​for the area said.

The ⁠fires had not ⁠spread compared to the previous days, the ⁠local administration ‌for La Nouvelle Aquitaine et de la Gironde added ⁠in a statement on X. The ​amount of ‌ground burnt remained at 42,000 hectares (103,784 ⁠acres).

The Bordeaux ​region is famed for its vineyards and the city is one of the ⁠main transport hubs for tourists ​visiting nearby holiday resorts on the Atlantic coast. Thousands have had to evacuated ⁠in order to escape the flames and smoke.

The fires have emanated as Europe faces an intense summer heatwave, which ​has also resulted in ⁠blazes breaking out in Spain and Greece.

(Reporting ​by Yves Herman, Juliette ‌Jabkhiro, Elizabeth Howcroft, Janis ​Laizans, Lauren Bacquie, Sarah Meyssonnier, Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

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