France Evacuates 525 People As Wildfire Hits Southwestern Landes Pine Woods

French authorities evacuated 525 people from the village of Luglon on Friday after a new wildfire broke out in the southwestern Landes region.

The fire tore through southwestern France, burning 1,100 hectares and advancing to within a few kilometers of the Luglon village center. The blaze started shortly before 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 13, driven by strong, shifting winds. By Friday morning, the fire reached within a few hundred meters of homes in Luglon. Roughly 500 firefighters have been deployed to fight the flames in the Landes department.

The Landes region is not far from an area already devastated by major blazes this summer, and this wildfire occurs amid an unprecedented wildfire season. Wildfires had recently died down in Gironde.