Wildfire now nine miles away from French city of Bordeaux, mayor warns

Wildfire now nine miles away from French city of Bordeaux, mayor warnsImage source, EPA/ShutterstockImage caption, Firefighters in Gironde are facing an "unprecedented" situation as they battle a blaze that "has a life of its own", the interior minister has warnedByJaroslav LukivPublished30 minutes agoThe mayor of Bordeaux has said he is bracing for "all eventualities", as one of many wildfires raging in France is now 15km (nine miles) from the south-western city."We are preparing to accommodate a large number of people should further evacuations be ordered," said Thomas Cazenave. Firefighters in the Gironde region were facing an "unprecedented" situation battling a fire that "has a life of its own", said Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez.Some 220,000 people have been evacuated in France and more than 100,000 in Spain, where fires are burning "uncontrolled" west of Madrid.Another intense heatwave on Tuesday could further hamper firefighting efforts.Jerome Steffe, the mayor of Cestas, a town south of Bordeaux, told the BBC this "will be the fire of the century".He described how 17,000 residents were evacuated from his town during the night when the fire swelled two days ago. So far, he said, the region has seen 42,000 hectares (103,000 acres) of land burned and 240 houses destroyed."In my city the situation is really catastrophic," he added.And although the fire is no longer moving as quickly, he said his teams have "won only a small battle" and emphasised that the risk remains from flying embers or a sudden change in wind direction."We put all our energy into creating protective firebreaks," he explained, but admitted "we are all scared in front of this situation."French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has warned the country "is going through an unprecedented fire season".In a post on X on Monday, Lecornu wrote that "116,085 hectares...