France and Spain battle record wildfires, rare firestorm clouds form as EU mobilizes aid

The scale of the disaster

On July 22, a wildfire ignited in the Gironde department of southwestern France. By 28 July it had consumed 42,000 hectares (an area four times the size of Paris) and reached within 15 kilometers of Bordeaux. Over 220,000 residents and tourists have been evacuated from 23 communes, and more than 240 houses have been destroyed or damaged. In Spain, wildfires have burned 130,000 hectares across the country since the start of the season, with the most severe blazes near Madrid in the Ávila, Toledo, and Castellón regions. Some 70,000 people have been evacuated from four areas and another 40,000 placed under lockdown. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared a national state of emergency, the first time in Spain’s history that such a measure has been taken for wildfires.

Firefighters killed, dozens injured

Two firefighters died in the Gironde earlier in the week while battling a separate blaze near Bordeaux-Mérignac airport, and a third French firefighter, serving in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, died on Monday while refueling a vehicle. At least 93 firefighters have been injured in the Gironde fire alone. Approximately 2,750 firefighters are on the front line, supported by 1,500 soldiers, 1,440 police and other personnel, and 18 water-bombing aircraft. The fire front has proven unpredictable.

The fire front changes position constantly. Fighting is impossible; we are like David against Goliath.

'Fire dragon' clouds add to chaos

For the first time in France, the inferno spawned a pyrocumulonimbus cloud, a phenomenon known as a 'fire dragon' because it reaches up to 14 kilometers into the stratosphere and generates its own lightning. David Bowman, a fire science professor at the University of Tasmania, explained to Reuters that it works "like a giant chimney. The fire burns below, and hot air with smoke is sucked vertically upward, even into the stratosphere." These clouds can start new fires with lightning strikes and create violent downdrafts that unpredictably shift the fire's direction. Prefect Sophie Brocas described the fire as "a combination of fire, storm and wind at the same time," making firefighting efforts extremely difficult.

EU solidarity and Polish deployment

The European Union activated its Civil Protection Mechanism, dispatching 13 firefighting planes, 4 helicopters, 134 firefighters, and 41 fire trucks from member states including Germany, Portugal, Greece and Italy. Poland announced it will send 105 firefighters to Spain for a one-month rotation starting August 1, operating in the Castilla-La Mancha region. Captain Łukasz Czemarmazowicz, deputy commander of the first shift, said the Polish crews will work with hand tools and light equipment to build fire lines where water is scarce, coordinating with helicopters and planes.

The planes drop water. Then teams like ours go in and extinguish what remains. They also search for new spots where water drops can happen.

Climate context and outlook

President Emmanuel Macron visited the command centre in Bordeaux and described the crisis as "the worst we have ever recorded, the most difficult since World War II," warning that "the coming weeks will be difficult." The fires have been fuelled by a severe drought and temperatures expected to reach 38C to 40C this week. Scientists pointed to the formation of pyrocumulonimbus clouds as a sign of what more frequent extreme fire events may bring to Europe, long accustomed to seeing such phenomena only in the United States and Australia.