Plumes of smoke rose above a vast sea of pine trees outside Bordeaux as firefighters in gleaming helmets rushed to douse emerging flames before they could spread. "It's intense, titanic," said Florian Lointier of the Paris Fire Brigade, an army unit dispatched to southwest France to help exhausted crews tackle the huge wildfire.
More than 5,000 firefighters, military personnel, police officers and volunteers have been battling the ferocious blaze, which has forced one of the largest evacuations in France's history and was 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Bordeaux's suburbs.
FRANCE 24's Camille Knight brings us more with this report.
🔔 Subscribe to France 24 now: https://f24.my/YTen
🔴 LIVE - Watch FRANCE 24 English 24/7 here: https://f24.my/YTliveEN
🌍 Read the latest International News and Top Stories: https://www.france24.com/en/
Like us on Facebook: https://f24.my/FBen
Follow us on X: https://f24.my/Xen
Bluesky: https://f24.my/BSen and Threads: https://f24.my/THen
Browse the news in pictures on Instagram: https://f24.my/IGen
Discover our TikTok videos: https://f24.my/TKen
Get the latest top stories on Telegram: https://f24.my/TGen