More than 115,000 hectares burned. 220,000 people evacuated in Gironde. Nearly 200 buildings destroyed near Biscarrosse, in Landes. President Emmanuel Macron himself described this fire season as the worst France has experienced since World War II.
The fire spread between July 23 and 28, 2026, sparing nothing in its path: forests, homes, entire towns. But amid that scorched landscape, a cross of Christ remained standing. Intact. Without a single mark from the fire that consumed everything around it.
French authorities, including the prefect of Gironde, Sophie Brocas, continue to monitor a fire that at the end of July still appeared unpredictable. And there, amid the ashes, that cross became the detail no one can stop looking at.