BBC presenter Joanna Kent described her experience fleeing wildfires in southwestern France, stating she had only 30 minutes to evacuate her family from the Cap Ferret Peninsula. Kent, a host for BBC South Today, was on holiday when the fires broke out, forcing widespread evacuations.
She appeared on BBC Breakfast to recount the events, explaining that while they are now safely relocated to the Loire Valley, the Cap Ferret area, known for its dry pine forests, faced a significant risk. Kent first noticed the encroaching danger on Wednesday, observing a large plume of smoke and falling ash.
"We went down to the local beach that night, and you could just see this wall of orange flame and an apocalyptic scene flaring up with every gust of the wind," Kent said. She noted her 10-year-old son was frightened by the situation.
The evacuation order provided a narrow window for packing. "Luckily for us, it happened sort of just before lunchtime the following day. So it was a bit of a better time to get that sort of 30 minutes to pack your bags and go," she explained.
While the risk of forest fires is known in the area, Kent indicated that fires of this magnitude had not previously affected that specific region, although a fire in 2022 destroyed some campsites. She observed that while many campsite residents remained calm, others were visibly panicked, rushing to pack belongings from tents and caravans.
Fellow British personality Georgia Toffolo, known from the reality show Made In Chelsea, also recounted fleeing Cap Ferret by boat with her husband and his children. She mentioned that they left just hours before a large-scale evacuation of the peninsula occurred in the early morning. Toffolo stated that the situation escalated quickly, particularly as the wind changed direction, and that ash was falling and a smell of smoke was present.
More than 40,000 people have been evacuated from the Cap Ferret peninsula, and an additional 23,000 from Biscarrosse to the south, as wildfires consumed thousands of hectares of forest and destroyed homes and campsites. The fires, which started Tuesday in Saumos, Gironde, have burned for days. Cap Ferret, located about a 90-minute drive from Bordeaux, is a popular destination for Parisians and is sometimes compared to the Hamptons in the United States.
Meanwhile, in Spain, the government declared a state of emergency in the Madrid region due to wildfires, leading to the evacuation of over 10,000 people. Emergency services issued orders for residents in Aldea del Fresno, west of Madrid, to leave. This marks the first time such a measure has been taken due to a wildfire in the region, recalling a similar alert level during a nationwide power blackout last year. Firefighting units were also working to contain a blaze near Toledo, which prompted village evacuations earlier in the week.