Firefighters in France hold back vast wildfire as heat returns to test their grip

LEGE-CAP FERRET, France (AP) — Firefighters kept a vast wildfire in southwest France from advancing overnight Tuesday, extinguishing flare-ups near Atlantic coast dunes before returning heat and drier air threatened to test their hold on the blaze.

The fire remained stabilized at 6 a.m. after a calm night and the burned area was unchanged at 420 square kilometers (162 square miles), the Gironde prefecture said.

Several flare-ups were detected overnight north of Le Porge and in dune land north of Cap Ferret but were brought under control by firefighters, authorities said.

The areas lie along the Atlantic coast west of Bordeaux, where crews have battled the blaze since it erupted near Saumos last week.

The blaze, raging since last week, has been wildly unpredictable, transforming at times into a self-feeding firestorm as it burned through an area four times the size of Paris and forced 220,000 people to flee their homes.

Although its advance has been halted, officials have repeatedly cautioned that smoldering vegetation and falling humidity could trigger fresh outbreaks.

Firefighters and military engineers resumed work early Tuesday on tactical firebreaks designed to prevent the flames from spreading. Authorities said 103 kilometers (64 miles) of barriers had been created.

Ninety-three firefighters have been injured during the operation, the prefecture said.

A section of the A63 highway remained closed, while rail traffic south of Bordeaux was suspended except on the route toward Toulouse.

The cautious progress in Gironde came as thousands of people began returning home after a separate wildfire in the neighboring Landes region displaced more than 30,000 residents and vacationers.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday evening that the Landes fire had been contained and regional authorities described it as “fixed,” meaning its advance had been stopped and no new fires were breaking out.

About 15,000 people were authorized to return from Monday night to Sanguinet, Parentis-en-Born and some parts of Biscarrosse.

Residents of Biscarrosse’s aviation village and a large campground were among those allowed back, although several other neighborhoods remained inaccessible.

The return marked a significant step for communities that emptied as flames swept through forests and tourist areas during the height of the summer vacation season. Roads between Biscarrosse, Parentis-en-Born and Sanguinet reopened on a restricted basis for residents and essential travel.

Authorities warned that the Landes fire was not fully extinguished. Residual hot spots, wind and drought could cause flare-ups, and surveillance and damping-down operations were expected to continue for days or possibly weeks.

The improving picture in both areas faced a new challenge Tuesday as temperatures climbed again.

France’s national weather service placed Gironde under a yellow heat warning from midday, forecasting inland temperatures of 33 to 35 C (91 to 95 F).

Southeast winds were expected across the department, with westerly sea breezes along the coast.

Successive heat waves have left forests and scrubland exceptionally dry, helping fuel fires in France and elsewhere in southern Europe.

Firefighters work to suppress a fire near Lacanau, as wildfires rage outside Bordeaux, France, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

An Blackhawk helicopter lets a Bambi Bucket full of water go over a firezone near Lacanau, as wildfires rage outside Bordeaux, France, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

France's President Emmanuel Macron, center, speaks to the press next to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, left, after a visit to the departmental fire and rescue operational center (CODIS) in Bordeaux, France, following wildfires in the area, Monday July 27, 2026. (Kenzo Tribouillard/Pool Photo via AP)

A firefighter works to suppress flames near Lacanau, as wildfires rage outside Bordeaux, France, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

A group hold a firehose and try to suppress a fire near Lacanau, as wildfires rage outside Bordeaux, France, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet Tuesday ahead of Sen. Lindsey Graham's funeral, their second sit-down this month and after a far-right activist with the U.S. president’s ear had a widely publicized change of heart on Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Trump is set to welcome Zelenskyy to the White House as the Ukrainian leader travels to Washington to honor Graham, whose final act as a public official was visiting Kyiv and securing an agreement on a package of sanctions that seek to punish countries that purchase Russian oil, gas and other exports.

But Zelenskyy is now being bolstered by an unusual source: Laura Loomer, known primarily for her incendiary social media posts and her influence with the president. Traveling through Ukraine, Loomer has witnessed Moscow’s barrage firsthand and interviewed Zelenskyy while admitting she was “bamboozled by Russian propaganda.”

Loomer said she spoke to Trump after she met with Zelenskyy in Ukraine last week, and she also expects to meet with the U.S. president once she returns from her trip.

“It’s looking good for Ukraine, right?” Loomer said during an interview with The Associated Press. “Going into this meeting next week at the Oval Office is looking pretty good.”

Ahead of the meeting, Zelenskyy has also warned that Russia has been aiding Iran as the war persists by capturing satellite imagery of U.S. bases in the Gulf region that later appear in Iran. The Ukrainian president also asserted that there was a “clear correlation” between Russia’s images and subsequent Iranian strikes.

“The purpose is clear,” Zelenskyy said earlier this month. “None of us in the world should turn a blind eye to one very simple fact: Evil always seeks ways to make things worse and spread further.”

On Monday, Trump downplayed any impact of potential Russian assistance for Iran.

“I don’t think they’ve been doing it, certainly not at a high level,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he traveled to Michigan. “And if they have, it has been very un-impactful.”

Still, he said he would raise the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy has a busy itinerary during his latest visit to Washington. In addition to his White House meeting, Zelenskyy will head to the Capitol to meet with senators on Tuesday evening after Graham’s funeral at Washington National Cathedral, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Republican leadership is hoping to advance Graham’s sanctions legislation this week, although the Senate is juggling several other priorities before lawmakers leave Washington for the August recess.

The bill has dozens of backers from both parties and is seen as the main policy tribute to Graham, who died unexpectedly this month from a tear in his aorta. It imposes tariffs on goods from the world’s top five purchasers of Russia oil or natural gas, including China and India.

The legislation also includes sanctions against Putin, senior Russian political and military leaders, and Russian financial institutions and energy projects.

Trump met with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit earlier this month in Ankara, Turkey, and announced that the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to make Patriot air defense systems, a long-running request from Kyiv in order to counter Russian missile attacks.

The air defense systems are expensive to make and are in high demand. Noting that he and Zelenskyy have “actually developed a good relationship,” Trump said the U.S. will help Ukraine produce the Patriots and that the country would be able to produce them “pretty quickly.”

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Laura Loomer, right, interviews Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Thursday July 23, 2026, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

FILE - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks od during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)