A total of 18 firefighters have been injured in the fight against one of the major fires that hit Gard in southeastern France.
Adverse weather conditions - drought, heat and strong winds - make it difficult to control the flames and now water-bombing aircraft have been brought in to control the fire.
- This is a fire that will last for several days.
The fire is still spreading freely, says Eric Agrinier at Gard's fire brigade to Franceinfo.
Residents in local villages are being evacuated
Work has now begun on evacuating residents in the villages of Bordezac and Bessèges as a preventive measure.
So far, a total of 70 people have been evacuated.
On Friday, local authorities issued a ban on entering certain forests and requiring residents of Bessèges, Bordezac and Gagnières to stay indoors.
No civilians should have been injured.
In a press release, the fire department at Gard writes that the villages of Bordezac, Besseges and Gagnières are directly threatened by the fire.
Photo: Sylvain Thomas / TT