MAP. Visualize the thousands of hectares burned by fires in France since the start of the summer

The southern territories are the most affected with fires that have mainly struck the departments of Aude. Therefore, Bouches-du-Rhône and Gard. Meanwhile,

While the summer season is in full swing. France is faced with a series of fires that have already taken several thousand hectares of map. visualize thousands hectares burned vegetation. Only 48 hours alone, several fires have struck the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Ardèche, Var and Ille-et-Vilaine. At 3 p.m. this Friday, July 18, firefighters were still mobilized in Martigues, near Marseille, where a fire started on Thursday traveled 240 hectares.

In total. more than 4,580 hectares (countdown on July 17) have left smoke in France, since the start of the summer, according to the countdown carried out by the European Information System on Forest Fires (Effis). This program. funded by the European Commission, uses satellite images to delimit areas which are ravaged by flames on European soil. According to this data. more than 40 zones with an area of at least one hectare have left smoke in France and Corsica since June 1. These lights are represented on the map below.

Unsurprisingly, the most affected territories are map. visualize thousands hectares burned located in the south of France. Aude is the most disaster victim with more than 2,200 hectares burned between June 26 and July 9. The census established by the effis reports seven areas reduced to ashes. the most important of which are located south of Narbonne, in the municipalities of Bages and Bizanet. Behind. come the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône (836 hectares) and Gard (439 hectares), according to an assessment stopped on July 17 which does not take into account the Martigues fire which was still active this Friday, July 18.

While a large part of the national territory is struck by a large drought. this summer 2025 is presented as that of all the dangers in fire. “It’s a high -risk summer”confirmed this morning with Franceinfo Mickael Maunoir. member of the board of directors of the Federation of Firefighters of France. For this professional. the current situation is comparable to map. visualize thousands hectares burned that of 2022, that is to say “Summers that started very early on the forest fire period”marked by “A rainy period during spring” where the “Vegetation has progressed and pushed well”he explains. The summer of 2022 had been marked by the major Gironde fires which had burned more than 30,000 hectares of forest.

For the time being, no fires this summer has reached a comparable magnitude. But the analysis of the cumulation of the surfaces burned since the beginning of the year is still already a state of Nearly 23. 000 hectares who left for smoke between January 1 and July 15, more than twice and a half times the average surface between 2006 and 2024 over the same period.

Fire risks should increase from year to year due to global warming caused by human. activities. Decrease in map. visualize thousands hectares burned rainfall. more frequent droughts and repeated heat waves should provide more and more conditions conducive to more extensive and more intense fires. In a France at +4 ° C in 2100. we must expect to see the number of fires increase by 70% in 2050 and to their doubling by the end of the century, as François recently recalled PimontInrae researcher, with the newspaper The world. The period of the lights will also expand to start earlier and earlier and end later and later. A phenomenon that has already started. as evidenced by the fires of this year which struck the south of France at the end of June and the beginning of July. Traditionally, the sinister season was between July 15 and August 25.