Three firefighters die as wildfires rage across France and Italy

By Caleb Reed · 2026-07-26

Three lives lost in 48 hours

Anthony Berthôme and Wilfried Schmitter died on 21 July 2026 while battling a violent wildfire near Bordeaux-Mérignac airport in GirondeverifiedVerified Source: gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr, becoming the first firefighters killed in the current European emergency.^[1] Both were deployed to the Saumos-Le Porge sector as the blaze tore through dense pine forest north of the Arcachon basin.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said: "C'est avec une immense tristesse que je viens d'apprendre le décès de deux sapeurs-pompiers, engagés sur le feu en cours à Mérignac. J'adresse mes pensées les plus sincères à leurs familles, à leurs proches, à leurs frères et sœurs d'armes, ainsi qu'à l'ensemble des personnels du Service départemental d'incendie et de secours de la Gironde."^[1]

Less than 24 hours later, a third fatality was confirmed in Sicily. Caporeparto Alessandro Marchì, 59, died from a sudden illness on 22 July 2026 while engaged in firefighting operations in contrada Chiapparia, near San Cataldo in the province of Caltanissetta.verifiedVerified Source: vigilfuoco.it^[2] Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said he felt profound sorrow for the loss of Marchì, who died while serving his duty to the community, and that Marchì would not be forgotten.^[2]

Scale of the Gironde blaze

The wildfire in the Saumos and Le Porge sector had consumed 2,400 hectares of forest by 11:30 on 23 July 2026, according to the Prefecture de la Nouvelle-Aquitaine et de la Gironde.^[3] The prefecture ordered 20,000 evacuations as the fire spread north of the Arcachon basin, with gendarmes carrying out 8,800 of them.^[4]

Campsite evacuations were among the most complex operations, with authorities clearing multiple sites including Aux Couleurs du Ferret, La Prairie, La Pinède and Le Truc Vert as the fire tracked toward the Lège-Cap-Ferret coastline.^[3] Aerial assets including Canadairs supported ground crews across the Gironde, with the Gendarmerie nationale describing its deployment as substantial across both Gironde and the Var.^[4]

Arson confirmed in Calabria

Domenico Costarella of the Calabria Civil Protection Department confirmed that the fires burning across the region were deliberately lit.^[6] Costarella said investigators recovered delayed-ignition devices at multiple fire sites, including candles with rags soaked in flammable liquid and cats with rags tied to their tails used as fire-carriers.^[6]

The Vigili del Fuoco provincial command in Calabria recorded 164 firefighting interventions in a single 24-hour period, pointing to the density and coordination of ignition events across the region.^[5] Authorities are treating the blazes as criminal acts and investigating the network behind the arson campaign.

Sicily overwhelmed, Spain also burning

Since 18 July 2026, more than 1,400 firefighting interventions have been conducted in Sicily to combat numerous wildfires burning across the island.verifiedVerified Source: vigilfuoco.it^[2] The Vigili del Fuoco, together with forest rangers and civil protection units, have been stretched across multiple simultaneous fronts, with temperatures exceeding 40°C accelerating the spread of each fire.

Spain faces parallel conditions, with civil protection agencies coordinating large-scale responses across Iberian regions baking under the same heat system that has locked in across southern Europe for weeks. Ground crews there have also relied heavily on aerial water-bombing operations to contain fast-moving fronts.

Where 2026 sits in the EFFIS record

The European Forest Fire Information System reported that by late July 2026 the area burned across the EU was second only to the record year of 2025, the worst wildfire season in two decades of satellite-based monitoring.^[7] Burn areas remain far above the 2006 to 2025 average, with EFFIS data confirming the season's severity as a continent-wide pattern rather than a regional anomaly.^[7]

Coordinated response across affected regions involves national and regional fire services, forest rangers, gendarmerie units and civil protection agencies working alongside aerial firefighting assets. The deaths of Berthôme, Schmitter and Marchì bring the human cost of the 2026 season into sharp relief as fire agencies across France, Italy and Spain warn conditions are unlikely to ease before August.

Caleb Reed

Caleb Reed covers breaking news and sport. He works to the rhythm of a story as it unfolds, and he is happiest when the facts arrive faster than anyone can spin them.