France is quite well-prepared for wildfires. The government operates 12 Canadair water bombers and eight Dash firefighting aircraft. In addition, leased aircraft and helicopters are being used.
However, the fleet is currently needed simultaneously across many parts of the country. A drought has been intensifying for weeks, and several heat waves with temperatures sometimes exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) have left the vegetation extremely parched. The devastating wildfire near Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast has already engulfed more than 42,000 hectares of forest and vegetation.
At the same time, fires and follow-up extinguishing efforts in southern and southeastern France are tying up additional emergency personnel. In many places, firefighters are battling the flames in an exhausting, round-the-clock effort. However, strong winds are fanning the fire fronts, making them almost unstoppable, and more than 220,000 people have had to leave their homes and vacation homes so far.
The gravity of the situation is also underscored by the fact that the French government has deployed an A400M military transport aircraft equipped for aerial firefighting for the first time. The A400M can drop around 20 metric tons of fire retardant, more than three times as much as a Canadair.
