Raging wildfires force residents to flee their homes by boat

Raging wildfires force residents to flee their homes by boat Sam Corbishley | Senior News Reporter Published July 24, 2026 3:21pm Updated July 24, 2026 3:26pm Aerial view of the wildfire spreading toward Lege-Cap-Ferret, in Gironde (Picture: First Eye/ABACA/Shutterstock) More than 80,000 people have had to flee their homes because of ‘apocalyptic’ wildfires burning across France and Spain. Some even fled by boat when flames swept through the touristic Cap Ferret peninsula on France’s Atlantic coast. Authorities ordered the total evacuation of the peninsula, a tourism hotspot busy for the summer season, as smoke and flames drew closer to homes. Some 63,000 people were evacuated from the area, with both France and Spain asking fellow European Union members for help in dealing with the fires.