1949 Landes forest fire

{{Short description|1949 wildfire in France}}

__NOTOC__{{Translate from|langcode=fr}}{{Infobox wildfire|image=Carte-Incendie-1949-France.jpg|caption=Map of the progression of the fire. Orange marks area burnt; blue arrow the directional of travel; and the crosses locations of deaths|date={{start and end dates|1949|08|19|1949|08|25}}|location=France: Landes forest|ongoing=no|fatalities=82|area={{convert|50000 |ha|km2}}}}

File:Monument_incendie_1949.jpg]]

File:Le_monument.JPG]]A major wildfire occurred from 19 August 1949 to 25 August 1949 in the Landes forest in France. {{convert|50000 |ha|km2}} of forest land were burnt - and 82 people killed.{{cite web|url = https://cneffpaysages.blog/2009/07/13/the-fatal-forest-fire-remembering-the-1949-mega-fire-in-the-foret-des-landes-south-west-france/|title = The Fatal Forest Fire – remembering the "1949 Mega fire" in the "Forêt des Landes" (South West France)|author = Christophe Neff|date = 13 July 2009|publisher = Blogs le Monde on LeMonde.fr|access-date = 5 August 2019|archive-date = 5 August 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190805152422/https://cneffpaysages.blog/2009/07/13/the-fatal-forest-fire-remembering-the-1949-mega-fire-in-the-foret-des-landes-south-west-france/|url-status = live}} It was considered the most deadly forest fire in Europe until the 2007 wildfires and the 2018 wildfires occurred in Greece, which killed 84 and 99 people, respectively. Since both events in Greece can be distinguished as multiple fire events, the Landes fire still ranks as the deadliest wildfire in Europe since record-keeping began.{{cite web|title= Pyrotragedies – a critical retrospective on the wildfire situation in Europe during July 2018|date= 7 August 2018|url= https://cneffpaysages.blog/2018/08/07/pyrotragedies-a-critical-retrospective-on-the-wildfire-situation-in-europe-during-july-2018/|publisher= Blogs le Monde on LeMonde.fr|accessdate= 8 August 2018|archive-date= 5 June 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190605035840/https://cneffpaysages.blog/2018/08/07/pyrotragedies-a-critical-retrospective-on-the-wildfire-situation-in-europe-during-july-2018/|url-status= live}} The municipalities of Cestas, Saucats, Marcheprime and Mios in the Gironde department were devastated by the forest fire. The very high dead toll from the fire shocked the country – and marked the starting point for the construction of the “Défense de la forêt contre les incendies” System ("Defending Forest against Wildfires" System).{{cite web|title= Pyrotragedies – a critical retrospective on the wildfire situation in Europe during July 2018|date= 7 August 2018|url= https://cneffpaysages.blog/2018/08/07/pyrotragedies-a-critical-retrospective-on-the-wildfire-situation-in-europe-during-july-2018/|publisher= Blogs le Monde on LeMonde.fr|accessdate= 9 August 2018|archive-date= 5 June 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190605035840/https://cneffpaysages.blog/2018/08/07/pyrotragedies-a-critical-retrospective-on-the-wildfire-situation-in-europe-during-july-2018/|url-status= live}}