The fire, which destroyed 7,000 hectares of forest in southwestern France near the Arcachon Basin, was contained after 11 days of firefighters’ efforts to extinguish it. As for another large fire that broke out in the same area on July 12, firefighters have not yet been able to extinguish it, but it is not spreading.

The region’s administration said in a statement that “all residents who were prudently evacuated – from the city where the localized fire broke out in La Teste des Bouches – can now return to their homes,” noting that the fires did not result in deaths. or injury.

These two major fires burned some 21,000 hectares of forest and forced more than 36,000 people to flee their homes, including 6,000 tourists evacuated from the Tel Bela camps, known as the sand dunes, which were later destroyed by the fire.

Faced with the magnitude of the crisis and disagreements over means to fight wildfires in France, French President Emmanuel Macron visited the region last Wednesday and said the country should arm itself with more firefighting aircraft.