French wildfires disrupt businesses as fire zone expands

Key points

• The Bordeaux-Gironde Chamber reported disruption affecting 40,000 businesses and roughly 200,000 jobs; the Economy Ministry said 130,000 employees could not work.
• The blaze had burned about 42,000 hectares and prompted more than 220,000 evacuations; officials said it was stabilised but remained vulnerable to flare-ups.
• Emergency support includes partial unemployment for affected companies, with an Economy Ministry meeting scheduled Thursday to address businesses’ needs.