The road through the forest was lined with smouldering pines and charred trunks, while firefighting aircraft crisscrossed the sky. The military deployed an A400M transport plane to drop fire retardant over the blaze. Near the village of Le Temple, three burnt-out cars and a destroyed trailer lay in a garden, smoke still rising from the blackened woods.

Finance Minister Roland Lescure announced that insurance companies would cover housing costs for evacuees, regardless of property damage. France's national firefighters federation reported that the fire had generated a “pyrocumulonimbus” cloud, a phenomenon never before seen in the country, which can create its own winds and lightning, potentially sparking new blazes.

Meteorologists forecast even hotter weather from Tuesday, with temperatures potentially reaching 40°C and dry winds. “All conditions are ripe for the fire to reignite,” warned Philippe de Gonneville, mayor of Lege-Cap-Ferret. Authorities stated that fires have consumed 115,000 hectares in France since the start of the year. Earlier this month, a rare blaze in the UNESCO-listed Fontainebleau forest near Paris devastated 2,000 hectares.