More than 20,000 local residents and vacationers have been evacuated from southwest France as fast-moving wildfires continue to spread across the region.

Roughly 800 firefighters were working to contain the blaze about 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Bordeaux on Thursday. They were supported by hundreds of gendarmes and members of the armed forces assisting with emergency operations.

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Water-bombing aircraft have been operating continuously since the fire broke out on Wednesday. Authorities and local witnesses indicated that the blaze may have been triggered by a brush-clearing machine.

The fire started in the village of Saumos before spreading toward the coastal community of Lege-Cap-Ferret.

Famous for its sweeping sand dunes, cycling trails and oyster huts, Lege-Cap-Ferret is a popular retreat, especially during the summer months.

Driven by strong winds, the flames tore rapidly through dense pine woodland, consuming around 3,400 hectares (8,500 acres) — an expanse roughly five times the size of Gibraltar, according to fire officials.

Three homes were damaged and a caravan was destroyed, though authorities have reported no injuries or fatalities so far.

After France requested assistance, the European Union dispatched three additional firefighting planes to help contain the inferno, officials confirmed.

Since May, France has endured three separate heatwaves, part of a pattern of increasingly frequent and severe weather events associated with climate change. These extreme conditions have led to thousands of deaths, depleted river levels and created ideal conditions for wildfires.

“Weather conditions are working against us,” said Lege-Cap-Ferret Mayor Philippe de Gonneville. “Temperatures are exceeding 30 degrees Celsius [86 degrees Fahrenheit], and shifting easterly and northeasterly winds are gaining strength.”

Earlier in the week, two firefighters lost their lives while tackling a separate blaze near Bordeaux airport. Firefighter unions have criticised what they describe as insufficient resources, warning that emergency crews are overstretched and fatigued.

At the beginning of the month, powerful fires destroyed about 10 percent of the UNESCO-listed Fontainebleau forest outside Paris — an unusual event for a region so far north.

In 2022 alone, wildfires scorched 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of forest across France and forced approximately 50,000 people from their homes.

Across Europe, three consecutive heatwaves this season have deepened drought conditions, strained water reserves and left vegetation dangerously dry. As a result, wildfires have already burned more land this year than the average annual total of the past two decades on the continent, which is warming faster than any other. The prolonged heat has also been linked to thousands of additional deaths.