French wildfires affect 40,000 businesses as disruption spreads

While Spain lifted an evacuation order in a wildfire-hit region near Madrid, France continued to fight one of its most severe wildfires in decades on Wednesday, with businesses facing mounting disruption. The Bordeaux-Gironde Chamber of Commerce and Industry told Euronews that 40,000 businesses were directly or indirectly affected by the fire and associated evacuation orders. Patrick Seguin, president of the CCI Bordeaux-Gironde, estimated that these represent approximately 200,000 affected jobs. “We are experiencing an unprecedented situation. A mini-Covid. An economic catastrophe for our businesses, already penalised by the current economic climate,” Seguin said to Euronews Business. Separately, the French Economy Ministry estimated that around 130,000 employees were unable to work because of the fires. The chamber has set up a crisis helpline for businesses, receiving a growing number of calls. Companies are primarily seeking help with cash-flow issues, deferred loan and tax payments, insurance claims, social-security contributions, and placing employees on France’s partial-unemployment scheme. Euronews Business previously reported on initial economic damage including the closure of strategically important defence sites, disrupting operations at ArianeGroup and Dassault Aviation. Although the overall economic cost has yet to be calculated, the chamber warned that tourism businesses generating as much as 80% of their annual turnover during summer could face severe difficulties. Thirty-eight campsites and other camping areas have been evacuated and four have been affected by flames, according to La Tribune. Around 4,000 holidaymakers were evacuated from accommodation in Lacanau on Tuesday. The chamber said that a Facebook group called Gironde Solidarité Entreprises had been created for companies to offer each other temporary offices, warehouse space, logistics and other practical assistance. “The entire image of the Gironde region and its tourism market is taking a hit, but that's not all. A whole sector of our economy has been affected,” Seguin said. He urged rapid deployment of resources to provide initial support to affected businesses, in coordination with government services, stressing that “business leaders need strong signals”. The French government announced emergency support on Monday for businesses affected by fires in Gironde, Landes and Var. Companies affected by evacuation orders will be able to use the state-supported partial-unemployment scheme. A meeting will be held at the Economy Ministry on Thursday to provide “more precise answers” to affected companies, Industry Minister Sébastien Martin told BFMTV-RMC. Meanwhile, the region’s power grid required adjustments by France’s national transmission system operator, RTE. RTE said its maintenance teams had joined the fire-service command centre to coordinate actions to protect electrical infrastructure essential for powering homes, fire stations, reception centres, telecommunications networks and other critical infrastructure. RTE said it had switched off certain lines and electrical substations to allow firefighters to work safely. “In parallel, our teams are adapting the operation of the electricity network in real time, in constant coordination with Enedis, to limit the consequences of any unavailability,” RTE said. No wildfire-related outage on the electricity transmission network had been reported by local media as of Wednesday afternoon. RTE’s latest official update, issued on Tuesday, said no transmission-network outages were underway at that time. As of Wednesday afternoon, the fire remained stabilised but still not fixed, meaning renewed outbreaks remained possible. Around 42,000 hectares had burned, and more than 220,000 people had been evacuated since the blaze began. Approximately 60,000 residents were authorised to return to their homes, although several flare-ups were reported as temperatures and winds intensified.