Portugal Colonial - France fire situation 'remains very unfavourable': interior minister

"Another difficult night on the wildfire front," Nunez said on X. "The situation remains very unfavourable," he said, stressing the situation in the southwestern department of Gironde where Bordeaux is located was particularly difficult.

"In Gironde, the fire became extremely intense and unpredictable again at the start of the night, generating its own winds and advancing erratically toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area," Nunez said.

By the end of the night, the fire had become calmer, he said, adding that total area burned had now reached 42,000 hectares (104,000 acres).

A total of 2,500 firefighters, including a Swiss firefighting team, 1,500 military personnel and around 1,200 police have been deployed to battle the blazes in Gironde, he said.

To combat the blazes, "18 aircraft have been deployed since this morning", he said, adding that a specially modified A400M military transport aircraft would be used again.

Firefighters have also sought to contain a major fire in the adjoining Landes region, where 3,600 hectares have burned, Nunez said.

Farther away, in the Var region in southeastern France, nearly 3,000 people have been evacuated "as a precautionary measure," he added.

P.Mira--PC