Wildfires are ravaging large sections of France. | Image: MeteoFrance
France’s record wildfire season has reached some of the country’s best-known mountain regions, with fires burning in the Southern Alps and Pyrenees as authorities close trails, restrict forest access, and deploy hundreds of firefighters. While no major ski resorts have been damaged, several destinations better known for winter skiing are spending the height of summer battling one of France’s most destructive wildfire seasons in years. Firefighters are exhausted after four days of battling the outbreak, “We are completely powerless. The fire is moving too fast,” Le 20h TV station reports firefighters saying.
The most serious mountain fire is burning near L’Argentière-la-Bessée at the gateway to Écrins National Park, one of the French Alps’ premier outdoor destinations and home to iconic ski areas including Serre Chevalier, Puy-Saint-Vincent, La Grave, and Montgenèvre. More than 500 hectares (1,235 acres) have burned, making it the largest wildfire recorded in the Hautes-Alpes in at least 50 years, according to local officials.
Equestrian centers released horses that could not be evacuated, hoping they would find their way to safety. | Image: MeteoFrance
Montgenèvre’s mayor urged residents and visitors to “scrupulously respect” fire restrictions, warning that the blaze devastating parts of the Hautes-Alpes showed how “a few seconds of inattention can have dramatic consequences” for local communities, landscapes, and natural heritage. The municipality also expressed its support for affected residents, firefighters, emergency crews, volunteers, and neighboring communities battling the fires.
Further south, fires have also burned in the eastern Pyrenees, threatening mountain communities and forcing temporary closures of hiking trails, forests, and climbing areas as firefighters attempt to contain rapidly spreading blazes driven by extreme heat, drought, and strong winds.
Fires have been ravaging many French regions. | Image: MeteoFrance
While ski lifts, hotels, and mountain infrastructure have so far escaped major damage, the images emerging from France’s mountains have been deeply unsettling. Videos shared across social media show terrified deer fleeing through smoke-filled forests, while residents have rushed to release horses from threatened stables so the animals have a chance to escape advancing flames. Wildlife rescue organizations have warned that countless wild animals — including birds, foxes, reptiles, and smaller mammals — are unlikely to survive fires moving through dense mountain forests, where escape routes are limited and habitats are being destroyed.
For those who have skied in the region, the scenes feel surreal. The forests surrounding resorts that normally attract skiers in winter and hikers and mountain bikers in summer are ravaged by flames, with helicopters carrying water buckets overhead and hundreds of firefighters working around the clock to protect villages and mountain communities.
Many animals have fallen victim to the fires. | Image: Fire Department Girond
Authorities say the fires are being fuelled by exceptionally dry vegetation following repeated heatwaves, with conditions allowing fires to spread into mountain terrain that has historically been considered less vulnerable than France’s Mediterranean coast. The combination of steep slopes, dense forests, and unpredictable mountain winds has made firefighting particularly difficult.
Although the immediate threat to ski resorts remains limited, the fires are another reminder that Europe’s mountain environments are increasingly experiencing climate extremes once considered rare. For skiers, these alpine landscapes are synonymous with snow-covered forests and powder days—not smoke, flames, and evacuation orders.
As firefighters continue battling the blazes, officials are urging visitors to avoid closed trails and respect access restrictions, warning that conditions can change rapidly as temperatures remain high and winds persist. For now, France’s famous ski resorts remain intact—but the mountains surrounding them are enduring one of the worst summers in recent memory.
This cat was rescued by firefighters in the Pyrenees. | Image: Fire Department Pyrenees