Narbonne Fire 2025 — Burn Severity Map & Satellite Analysis
Mon Jul 07 2025 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
About this fire
On 7 July 2025, a fast-moving wildfire ignited at the Domaine Saint-Julien de Septime on the outskirts of Narbonne, in the Aude department of Occitanie. Driven by strong winds and extreme heat, the fire swept through garrigue and pine scrubland, consuming 2,000 hectares of vegetation within 24 hours. It was one of several major fires to strike southern France during the first week of July 2025, part of an intense fire season fueled by a historic early-summer heatwave.
The blaze prompted large-scale confinement orders in multiple neighborhoods of Narbonne and surrounding communes, including Roches-Grises, Montplaisir, Réveillon, and Peyriac-de-Mer. Over 1,050 firefighters and 270 vehicles were deployed, supported by 2 Air Tractor water-bombers and 3 helicopters. Five firefighters were lightly injured and 5 civilians required medical attention, including a child. The fire destroyed an atelier and an equestrian stable, partially damaged 6 homes, a chapel, and a barn, and killed 3 horses. Two thousand three hundred homes lost electricity in nearby Port-la-Nouvelle.
The Réserve Africaine de Sigean — a major wildlife park near the fire zone — was closed as a precaution. The A9 and A61 motorways were shut, and the RD6009 was damaged by fire. The scale of the disruption underscored how quickly a wildfire on the urban-wildland interface can paralyze a city of 50,000+ residents.
Timeline & severity
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 7 Jul 2025 | Fire ignites at Domaine Saint-Julien de Septime, Narbonne |
| 7–8 Jul 2025 | Fire spreads to 2,000 ha overnight; 1,050 firefighters deployed |
| 8 Jul 2025 | A9 and A61 motorways closed; 2,300 homes without power; Sigean reserve shut |
| ~11 Jul 2025 | Fire contained after several days of intensive ground and air operations |
| Post-fire | 2,000 ha burned; 5 firefighters injured; 6 homes damaged; 3 horses killed |
The fire’s rapid overnight spread — 2,000 hectares in less than 24 hours — was enabled by bone-dry garrigue vegetation, sustained winds, and temperatures above 35°C. The urban-wildland interface made it particularly dangerous, with flames approaching residential areas of Narbonne itself.
Satellite analysis
Sentinel-2 satellite imagery provides before-and-after analysis of the fire’s impact on the Narbonne garrigue.
Burn severity (dNBR)
| Metric | Value | Image date |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-fire NBR | 0.131 | 30 Jun 2025 |
| Post-fire NBR | 0.135 | 11 Aug 2025 |
| dNBR | −0.004 | — |
| USGS severity class | Unburned (area average) | — |
The near-zero dNBR reflects the extremely low pre-fire biomass of the Narbonne garrigue (NBR 0.131, compared to 0.5+ for dense forest). The fire burned through sparse scrubland where the NBR signal is naturally weak. The slight negative dNBR suggests marginal post-fire greening from early regrowth between the fire and the post-fire image (35 days later).
Vegetation timeline
| Period | NDVI | NBR | NDMI | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2024 | 0.276 | 0.149 | 0.060 | Winter baseline |
| Jul 2024 | 0.247 | 0.118 | 0.014 | Summer drought — very low NDMI |
| Dec 2024 | 0.260 | 0.148 | 0.067 | Pre-fire winter |
| Jun 2025 | — | 0.131 | — | Pre-fire image |
| 7 Jul 2025 | — | — | — | Fire ignites |
| Aug 2025 | — | 0.135 | — | Post-fire image — no significant NBR change |
| Jul 2026 | 0.264 | 0.160 | 0.031 | 1 year post-fire — NBR above pre-fire |
Key findings
The Narbonne garrigue had very low vegetation cover before the fire (NDVI 0.247–0.276, NBR 0.118–0.149), typical of drought-stressed Mediterranean scrubland. The fire caused no detectable area-average NBR change, but current NBR (0.160) is now 22% higher than the pre-fire value (0.131) — suggesting post-fire regrowth of pioneer species. However, current NDMI (0.031) remains very low, indicating persistent moisture stress and continued fire vulnerability.
Read our full guide: What is NBR? →
Recovery outlook
The Narbonne fire burned primarily through garrigue and scrubland, which are adapted to periodic fire and expected to regrow within 1–3 years. However, the loss of vegetation cover on slopes near the city creates short-term erosion risk before the autumn rainy season. For vineyard owners on the fire’s perimeter, satellite monitoring of NDVI and NDMI over the coming months will help identify vines stressed by heat and smoke exposure, distinguishing temporary damage from permanent vine loss. The fire also highlighted the need for fuel breaks between the Corbières garrigue and the Narbonne urban area.
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