France says it will use a massive specially adapted cargo aircraft on Saturday to dump flame retardants on a wildfire that has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, including from some suburbs of the wine region city of Bordeaux.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has ordered the armed forces to deploy an A400M military transport aircraft to help combat fires raging in the southwest, his office said.

Black smoke darkened the skies and crackling flames roared through pine trees in a forest in southwest France on Thursday as wildfires have forced more than 20,000 residents and…