A wildfire near the village of Luglon in southwestern France has been declared contained though not yet extinguished, allowing authorities to begin returning hundreds of evacuated residents to their homes. About 250 residents of Luglon were due back by mid-morning Sunday, joining roughly 50 others already permitted to return to Garein, after the blaze scorched approximately 1,700 hectares of pine forest and forced 650 people from their homes.
Around 350 firefighters remain on the scene, down from a peak of 550, as officials warn that some areas remain dangerous and active. The Luglon blaze is the third major fire this summer in the Landes massif, following earlier infernos at Biscarrosse and Saumos. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu defended the government's response to the devastating season, during which nearly 100,000 hectares have burned nationwide — a record in two decades of satellite monitoring — though he faced boos from residents during a visit to Le Porge, where 183 of 250 homes were destroyed in late July.