Scary/ France engulfed in flames, 10,000 residents leave their homes in terror

The fire situation is escalating in France, where more than 1,000 firefighters are battling a large fire in the southwest that has already destroyed nearly 7,000 hectares of forest, officials say.

The BBC writes that the fire near the city of Bordeaux has destroyed a large number of homes and forced 10,000 residents to leave.

"It's a monster fire," said fire representative Gregory Allione.

Meanwhile, the fire extinguishing operation has been made difficult by strong winds and high temperatures.

The French President, Emmanuel Macron announced that Austria, Germany, Greece, Poland and Romania will help France to extinguish the fire.

"European solidarity at work!" he posted on Twitter.

This summer France and a number of other European countries have faced a wave of deadly fires, caused by high temperatures and droughts across the continent.

More than 1,000 deaths have been caused by the heat in Portugal and Spain.

In the United Kingdom, an orange alert for extreme heat has been activated with temperatures expected to reach 37 degrees in some areas over the next four days.

Local authorities warn that the heat wave will probably affect health, transport and working conditions.

Fires have broken out in Greece, Spain and Italy, while heat waves are spreading across Europe.

The big fire in the Gironde region of France has been burning for two days near the municipality of Landiras, about 30 km south-east of Bordeaux.

A large number of firefighters participated in the operation to extinguish the flames. They were also helped by specialized planes that released water to extinguish the flames. But despite all efforts, the fire was still out of control on Thursday, local officials said.

"It's the first time we've seen a fire like this," said French firefighter Jerome Jean.

Before the evacuation, some of the local residents had to save themselves on the roofs as the flames quickly approached their homes, reports said.

Belin-Beliet is now a ghost town after all its 2,000 residents had to leave on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, temperatures are expected to reach 39 degrees Celsius late Thursday.