The French President Emmanuel Macron officially ordered the deployment of army units and appealed for urgent assistance from the European Union due to the critical situation with forest fires in the country.
The fire, which is raging with enormous force in southwestern France and the Gironde region, has already burned over 10,000 hectares of land and forced the complete evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunes confirmed that over 40,000 citizens and tourists have been evacuated by land and sea.
Due to extremely unfavorable weather conditions and strong winds, French authorities activated EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
France will receive immediate support with firefighting aircraft from Croatia, Portugal and specialized helicopters from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.