During a visit to the village of Porge in the Gironde region, which was heavily impacted by wildfires this summer, Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally (RN) party, met with around a dozen residents who had lost their homes. The meeting took place on September 17, and was attended by a significant number of journalists, highlighting the public interest in the event. Le Pen expressed a desire to "learn the lessons" from the fires that burned through tens of thousands of hectares this summer. She acknowledged "a number of failures in the security, perhaps post-fire of the homes," and pledged to "listen to the victims" as part of her political platform. Le Pen emphasized the importance of reflecting on the events from the start of the fires until their extinguishment, stating that "we must learn from what happened [...] to do better next time." She also noted a common pattern in public attention, saying that "every time there is a violent climate episode, everyone is interested in what is happening, but the next day everyone forgets, and the lessons are rarely drawn to do better next time." Her comments reflect a broader concern about the lack of sustained action on fire prevention and response after such events. During the meeting, a resident from the nearby town of Arès questioned Le Pen about the RN's vote against proposed budget measures that would have increased funding for firefighters. In response, Le Pen defended her party's position, stating that they did not vote against the measures, but rather opposed a proposed new tax, which "the French have rejected." She added that the RN aimed to "proceed with a new distribution, to the benefit of the SDIS, of the means that were allocated." SDIS refers to the local fire and rescue services in France, which are responsible for managing emergency responses. The village of Porge, with a population of about 3,500, was the most affected by the wildfires that swept through the Gironde region in the summer of 2026. More than 180 homes were lost out of a total of 250, and the fires burned through 42,000 hectares—an unprecedented figure since 1949 in France. A month before Le Pen's visit, the Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, faced backlash from residents, indicating ongoing frustration with the government's handling of the crisis.