July 30, 2026, 5:43 p.mJuly 30, 2026, 5:43 p.m
During the devastating forest fire on the French Atlantic coast, a forgotten ammunition depot from the Second World War exploded in the hard-hit town of Le Porge. “In our community there were – without us knowing about it – ammunition depots that were buried in properties and exploded,” said the mayor of the town, Martial Zaninetti, to the France Info broadcaster.
Le Porge.Image: keystone
On the second night of the fire, when flames over ten meters high engulfed the houses, there was a deafening noise that resembled the “noise of war”. As the local newspaper “Ouest-France” reported, it was probably about a warehouse with German ammunition, which is still often found in the region.
“At first we thought it was gas bottles, but it was really too violent. Grenades actually exploded; some are lying on the ground, others have flown left and right and crossed entire areas. One of them even flew through a house,” said the mayor. According to him, “there was a lot of ammunition,” so “more than a hundred explosions” were heard. But there were no injuries. Explosives experts later checked the area and planned to return in a few days. When the explosions occurred, the residents had already evacuated.
Grenade flies into the bedroom
When a homeowner later checked on site, he noticed a hole in a window shutter, reported “Ouest-France”. He then found a grenade on the bedroom floor that had penetrated the shutter and the window. “The house survived the flames, but was penetrated by a shell,” reported the owner’s son. The grenade was probably thrown through the air by the force of the explosions and hit the house without exploding itself.
German ammunition discoveries in the region are not uncommon, as the coastal area was an important part of the German Atlantic Wall during the Second World War. Along the coast, German troops built numerous bunkers, command posts and ammunition depots in the dunes and forests. When the Wehrmacht withdrew in late summer 1944, many of these facilities had to be hastily abandoned, leaving ammunition and military equipment behind. (hkl/sda/dpa)