Le Porge resident Nathalie Beigbeder-Calay remained at a loss for words as she walked through the remains of the house she was renting in the town hit by a massive wildfire.

Weeks after the gigantic wildfire, which devastated some 42,000 hectares, destroyed around 240 houses and prompted the evacuation of around 220,000 people in the region in late July, ashen debris peppered the lot, once Beigbeder-Calay's "little paradise." Behind the once-verdant trees damaged by the flames at the back of the property was blackened, barren land.

“It was such a beautiful house. It was very, very beautiful. And now, it's completely destroyed,” she said on Wednesday (August 19).

Inhabitants of Le Porge, whose livelihoods were affected by the “monster” wildfire that engulfed the southwestern Gironde region, have been gradually returning to the seaside village of Le Porge.

Beigbeder-Calay, 62, who settled in Le Porge in 2009, said despite the losses she suffered and the growing risks of recurring wildfires in the region, she could not imagine living anywhere else.

"Despite what had burned, I would return to this place, in Le Porge and here, despite everything," she said.

When the wildfire broke out, Beigbeder-Calay left her home to help provide assistance to local firefighters.

Unable to return because of evacuation orders, she slept in her car for six days. When residents were finally allowed back into Le Porge, she found her house reduced to ashes.

Among all her belongings, she was able to save photos of her pets and an angel figurine gifted to her by her grandmother.

Beigbeder-Calay now resides in the municipal campsite, where she has access to a bungalow until "at least December." Her days are filled with paperwork for insurance, and she said she has yet to find the bearings in her new life.

"We move on, we don't have a choice anyway. We have to, if we want to achieve something, we have to move on and rebuild, and we'll do that little by little,” she said.

The risk of wildfires across France and Europe is expected to increase in the coming years, experts told Reuters.

Hot weather and drought linked by scientists to climate change have created ideal conditions for wildfires, which swept this year across Europe, the world's fastest-warming continent.

The blazes hit France, Spain and Greece particularly hard, and some 550,000 hectares (1.36 million acres) have been charred in the European Union as of August 12, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

“If climate change means we lose everything and everything burns everywhere, what do we do? We'll be just like the dinosaurs - we'll disappear,” Beigbeder-Calay said.

Nathalie Courregelongue, deputy director of the campsite where Beigbeder-Calay is staying, said mobile homes would remain available in winter to house those in need.

Courregelongue was able to prevent her home from completely burning down by fighting the flames with water hoses for hours, but she could not even celebrate.

“There was so much damage in the town that it makes us want to cry... In any direction we turn our heads, it's burned. It's no longer our village," she said.

She said it may be too early to re-evaluate the infrastructure in the town, population 3,465, although firebreaks installed at the entrance and behind the campsite brings her some relief.

The destruction of many properties in Le Porge caused outrage among residents, who criticised the government's response and accused authorities of prioritising wealthier areas.

Le Porge Mayor Martial Zaninetti said homes should no longer be rebuilt in isolated forest areas and that new, more fire-resistant vegetation, including irrigated crops, should be planted around the village to help reduce wildfire risk in the future.

“We have to rethink completely the way we're living in the town," Zaninetti said.

In the local market on Thursday (August 20), crowds of locals browsed meat stands and cheese stalls - a reminder that life there goes on.

Despite the devastation, residents remain hopeful and say they are determined to stay and rebuild.

"We were here during the fire, and we want to be here for what's next. So we won't move for anything in the world," resident Jean-Philippe Chevallier said.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

PERSONAL: In wildfire-hit French town, locals set on staying despite losses, growing risks

VIDEO SHOWS: LE PORGE RESIDENT SHOWING SITE OF PREVIOUS HOME THAT WAS BURNED BY MASSIVE WILDFIRE AND NEW PLACE WHERE SHE TEMPORARILY LIVES / SOUNDBITES OF RESIDENT / DRONE VIEWS OF DESTROYED HOME AND BURNT LAND / SOUNDBITES OF CAMPSITE DIRECTOR / INTERVIEW WITH MAYOR / RESIDENTS AT MARKET / SOUNDBITE OF LOCAL RESIDENT ON RECONSTRUCTION

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: LE PORGE, FRANCE (AUGUST 19, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. 62-YEAR-OLD LE PORGE RESIDENT, NATHALIE BEIGBEDER-CALAY, WHOSE HOUSE BURNED DOWN DURING WILDFIRES, WALKING ON SITE OF DESTROYED HOME

2. DEBRIS

LE PORGE, FRANCE (AUGUST 20, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all) (MUTE)

3. DRONE VIEW OF BURNT FOREST AND BEIGBEDER-CALAY'S DESTROYED HOME

LE PORGE, FRANCE (AUGUST 19, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

4. VARIOUS OF BEIGBEDER-CALAY ON SITE OF DESTROYED HOME

5. (SOUNDBITE) (French) 62-YEAR-OLD LE PORGE RESIDENT, NATHALIE BEIGBEDER-CALAY, SAYING:

"It was such a beautiful house, it was very, very beautiful. And now, it's completely destroyed."

LE PORGE, FRANCE (ARCHIVE) (NATHALIE BEIGBEDER-CALAY - Access all) (MUTE)

6. VARIOUS STILL PHOTOS OF BEIGBEDER-CALAY'S HOUSE BEFORE WILDFIRE

LE PORGE, FRANCE (AUGUST 19, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

7. DEBRIS ON SITE OF DESTROYED HOUSE

LE PORGE, FRANCE (AUGUST 20, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all) (MUTE)

8. VARIOUS DRONE VIEWS OF DESTROYED HOUSE AND DEBRIS

LE PORGE, FRANCE (AUGUST 19, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

9. (SOUNDBITE) (French) 62-YEAR-OLD LE PORGE RESIDENT, NATHALIE BEIGBEDER-CALAY, SAYING:

"If I could come back to this place, despite what had burned, I would return to this place, in Le Porge and here, despite everything."

JOURNALIST ASKING: "Why?"

BEIGBEDER-CALAY: "Because... I don't know, I don't know. I can't say why, I don't know, it's a place that I particularly love, though I don't know why."

LE PORGE, FRANCE (AUGUST 20, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all) (MUTE)

10. DRONE VIEW OF DESTROYED HOUSE AND BURNT FOREST

LE PORGE, FRANCE (AUGUST 19, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

11. BEIGBEDER-CALAY DRIVING

12. VIEW OF TREES DAMAGED BY WILDFIRE ALONG ROAD

13. MOBILE HOME WHERE BEIGBEDER-CALAY CURRENTLY RESIDES

14. DOG LOOKING THROUGH FENE

15. (SOUNDBITE) (French) 62-YEAR-OLD LE PORGE RESIDENT, NATHALIE BEIGBEDER-CALAY, WALKING INTO MOBILE HOME AND SAYING:

"Voila, this is my current home. Voila, I'm staying here until December at least." / VIEW OF INTERIOR OF MOBILE HOME

16. (SOUNDBITE) (French) 62-YEAR-OLD LE PORGE RESIDENT, NATHALIE BEIGBEDER-CALAY, SAYING:

"I took the two photos of my dog, his toys and his collar, a photo of my cat and a small angel figurine given by my grandmother to my sister and me - we each have a different one. And that's all I saved. I don't know why I took what I took."

17. BEIGBEDER-CALAY HOLDING ANGEL FIGURINE

18. BEIGBEDER-CALAY LOOKING AT ANGEL FIGURINE ON TABLE

19. ANGEL FIGURINE ON TABLE

20. (SOUNDBITE) (French) 62-YEAR-OLD LE PORGE RESIDENT, NATHALIE BEIGBEDER-CALAY, SAYING:

"What do my days look like? For now, it's about insurance, documents, insurance, documents, and then trying to find my bearings, and that's a lot more difficult."

21. BEIGBEDER-CALAY PLAYING WITH DOG

22. (SOUNDBITE) (French) 62-YEAR-OLD LE PORGE RESIDENT, NATHALIE BEIGBEDER-CALAY, SAYING:

"We move on, we don't have a choice anyway. We have to, if we want to achieve something, we have to move on and rebuild, and we'll do that little by little. For now, we're trying to get through this mourning period, mourning over our things, our homes, our forests and our village. And then, voila, we try to move forward as best we can. But for the moment, we don't yet have our bearings, that's for sure."

23. VARIOUS OF BEIGEBEDER-CALAY PLAYING WITH DOG

24. (SOUNDBITE) (French) 62-YEAR-OLD LE PORGE RESIDENT, NATHALIE BEIGBEDER-CALAY, SAYING:

"If climate change means we lose everything and everything burns everywhere, what do we do? We'll be just like the dinosaurs - we'll disappear."

LE PORGE, FRANCE (AUGUST 20, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

25. VARIOUS OF CAMPSITE

26. (SOUNDBITE) (French) CAMPSITE DIRECTOR, NATHALIE COURREGELONGUE, SAYING:

"It depends on the number of people who want to stick around, by in principle, the mobile homes will remain open for the victims. We're not going to kick them out in the middle of winter and have them look for another place - no, they can stay as long as they want."

27. DRONE VIEW OF BURNT FOREST (MUTE)

28. (SOUNDBITE) (French) CAMPSITE DIRECTOR, NATHALIE COURREGELONGUE, SAYING:

"For me, it's the same. I live in Le Porge, and I also witnessed the monster coming over us. For three hours, my husband and I fought with our small water hoses to save the house, which we were able to, but we couldn't even celebrate because there was so much damage in the town that it makes us want to cry. Now, that's not all we see - it's true that I didn't lose my job, no one died, sure. But in any direction we turn our heads, it's burned. It's no longer our village. We're going to rebuild, that's for sure, but it will take time."

29. VARIOUS OF FIREBREAK NEAR CAMPSITE

30. (SOUNDBITE) (French) CAMPSITE DIRECTOR, NATHALIE COURREGELONGUE, SAYING:

"For the moment, we're not re-evaluating (the infrastructure), it's still too early to do that. But even just the firebreaks they installed at the campsite's entrance and behind it, even though it looks exaggerated for the naked eye, it is not for us, for our security. It's reassuring for us to have this."

31. PEOPLE OUTSIDE TOWN HALL

32. (SOUNDBITE) (French) LE PORGE MAYOR, MARTIAL ZANINETTI, SAYING:

"We have to rethink completely the way we're living in the town, the rural-urban fringe with the forest. We have to be able to continue living in the forestlands, to protect biodiversity, to protect our forests and the residents."

33. PEOPLE OUTSIDE TOWN HALL

34. (SOUNDBITE) (French) LE PORGE MAYOR, MARTIAL ZANINETTI, SAYING:

"We need new vegetation varieties in the forest, vegetation that burn less, meaning a shift towards broadleaf trees, along with adequate setbacks from residential areas, likely firebreaks and new land-management practices. This could involve integrating areas of corn or other irrigated crops to serve as natural firebreaks."

35. DRONE VIEW OF BURNT FOREST (MUTE)

36. (SOUNDBITE) (French) LE PORGE MAYOR, MARTIAL ZANINETTI, SAYING:

"For houses that are completely isolated in the middle of the woods, it's obvious that in the future, we cannot replace these houses and again put in danger the coming generations. That's for sure, we really have to protect our population, so there will be decisions made by government agencies that will go in this direction. We cannot experience the same thing in 10, 20 or 30 years - that would be an error."

37. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT MARKET

38. (SOUNDBITE) (French) LE PORGE RESIDENT, JEAN-PHILIPPE CHEVALLIER, ASKED IF WILDFIRES MAKE HIM WANT TO MOVE, SAYING:

"No, not at all. On the contrary, we even want to participate in the reconstruction. We were here during the fire, and we want to be here for what's next. So we won't move for anything in the world."

39. DRONE VIEW OF BURNT FOREST (MUTE)