One of the great forest fires near Bordeaux in south-west France has flared up again.

The fire near Landiras is spreading rapidly and has already destroyed 6,000 hectares of forest since Tuesday afternoon, as the authorities in the Gironde department announced on Wednesday.

Around 6,000 people had to leave their homes, and 16 houses were damaged or destroyed in Belin-Béliet.

France's interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, claims it was arson.

There is "great suspicion" that the fire "was caused by arsonists," Darmanin said on Wednesday during a visit to southern France.

"More than 1,000 firefighters, nine airplanes and two firefighting helicopters" are deployed to fight the fire, Darmanin said on Twitter.

Two huge forest fires had raged in the Gironde since mid-July, one in Landiras south of Bordeaux and another in Teste-de-Buch near Arcachon on the Atlantic coast.

The two fires destroyed 20,800 hectares of forest.

More than 36,000 people had to be brought to safety from the flames, including 6,000 tourists who were vacationing at campsites on the famous Pilat Dune that were later destroyed by the fire.

The Arcachon fire was extinguished at the end of July.

The Landiras fire was brought under control but never completely extinguished.

Fires in the ground flared up again.

The new fire was "very violent" and had already spread further south to the Landes department, the Gironde prefecture said.

Weather conditions "very unfavorable"

In the communities of Saint-Magne, Belin-Béliet and Hostens, all three of which are in the middle of the forest, 3,600 people had to leave their homes during the night.

Another evacuation operation on Wednesday affected 2,000 people.

In the neighboring Landes department, more than 200 people had to leave their homes.

Some of the evacuees had already fled the flames in July, according to Gironde prefect Martin Guespereau.

For these people in particular, the situation is “very difficult”.

So far, however, no one has been injured, the prefecture said.

Guespereau said weather conditions were "very unfavorable" due to heat, drought and low humidity.

The risk of the fire spreading further is "very high".

The fire was also moving towards the A63 motorway from Bordeaux to Bayonne near the border with Spain.

Because the smoke led to obstructed views, the section was closed around noon.

Temperatures up to 40 degrees expected by Sunday

Forest fires are also raging in other regions of France.

A fire between Angers and Le Mans in western France has destroyed more than 1,200 hectares of forest since Monday, according to the authorities in the Maine-et-Loire department.

A forest fire has been raging in Romeyer in the south-eastern French department of Drôme since Friday, which has now spread to more than 280 hectares.

The forest fires in July occurred during a strong heat wave in France.

Temperatures of up to 40 degrees are expected again in the southwest of the country until Sunday, according to the French weather service Météo-France.

Experts assume that climate change is responsible for the extreme heat and drought.