British Father and Daughter Escape France’s Cap Ferret Wildfires by Boat

In early June, fast-moving wildfires swept the Gironde region of southwest France, prompting French authorities to order a total evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula, a popular upscale resort on the Atlantic coast. With the sole road out clogged by traffic, residents and holidaymakers were directed to cross the bay to the town of Arcachon by boat.

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Authorities estimate that nearly 200,000 people have been forced to flee homes and holiday accommodation across the region. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported that about 40,000 people were being evacuated from Cap Ferret while roughly 800 firefighters battled the blaze to the north of the peninsula.

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Ben Sturnham, a 50-year-old British father on holiday with his eight-year-old daughter Allegra, described boarding a private taxi boat after an evacuation alert sounded around 3 a.m. He paid €250 for the 12-minute crossing to Arcachon, then spent another €200 on a taxi to Bordeaux airport. Sturnham said the vessel was “like a little tug-boat,” and recounted the sky filled with ash that fell “like a mushroom cloud.” He noted that the peninsula’s geography—one road in, one road out—made the evacuation especially urgent.

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Laurent Nuñez confirmed the scale of the evacuation, stating that 40,000 people were being moved from Cap Ferret as firefighters worked to contain the fire. Local volunteers were deployed to direct arriving holidaymakers at the pier, and the French interior ministry coordinated the use of private boats to supplement limited road access.

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• “There were two fires, one at the top of the peninsula and one on the other side, just raging constantly for the last two days we were there,” — Mr Sturnham

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• “There was a real fear – not panic, but there was a real sense of concern. No boats, people queuing up with suitcases,” — Mr Sturnham

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