Environment & Transitions · Family and daily life · War & Disasters

Gironde: after the fires, life returns

17 September 2026Photos and text: Oscar Chuberre18 images

Gironde : après les incendies, la vie reprend ses droits

01 / 18 · 17 September 2026Oscar Chuberre / Collectif DR

A month after the devastating fires in Gironde and the Landes, which burned 42,000 hectares of forest and required the evacuation of 220,000 people, life is resuming its course. In the undergrowth, pioneer plants and fungi are already recolonizing the soil, benefiting from the nutrients in the ashes and from the openings of light where trees have fallen. Insects, reptiles and birds are reclaiming the space, especially near natural water sources. In Le Porge, one of the hardest-hit villages with 183 houses burned, a vast chain of solidarity has formed in recent weeks to help those affected. Secours Catholique, a psychological support unit and administrative offices are housed in prefabricated cabins, tents and trucks. They are taking over from local volunteers who had mobilized from the very first days. The material donations that poured in from all over France were stored in the sports hall, which is now full and cannot take in any more. A little further on, bomb disposal experts are at work around a site closed to the public: World War II shells were uncovered by the fires. Several exploded in the heat of the fire; the others are still being made safe. The scars of this summer will take a long time to disappear. But once the emergency has passed, it is the resilience of society and of ecosystems that is at stake today.

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