BORDEAUX, France: Thousands of people evacuated in southwestern France due to a major wildfire were gradually allowed back home on Friday after authorities said the fire, which has burned for more than a week, was contained. French authorities have ended the evacuation of 12 districts in the west and southwest of Bordeaux, allowing 144,000 people out of more than 220,000 to return home, Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas said in a statement on Friday. “The situation is stable, the fire is contained within its perimeter,” she said.

Authorities say that the fires in the Gironde have been stabilised but is not entirely out yet. The French interior minister says some 40 thousand hectares went up in smoke.…

French authorities order evacuation of almost 4,000 people from Lacanau resort amid return of heatwave