Ammon News - A blaze that raced through wooded hills in southern France, forcing hundreds from their homes and devouring an area twice the size of London's Heathrow airport, has been brought under control, firefighters said Wednesday.

"For the moment it's been contained in its perimeter, meaning it's not spreading much," regional fire chief Éric Grohin told reporters of the fire that erupted the previous day in the Var region.

"Nevertheless, we still have many hot spots, flames in numerous places, so we are being very vigilant this morning," he said.

The fire erupted Tuesday in the Var region and spread at an unexpectedly fast pace, forcing some 400 people to evacuate and devouring 2,550 hectares (6,300 acres), an area roughly twice the size of London's Heathrow airport.

Nearly 1,000 firefighters and specialised water aircraft battled to contain the blaze in the region that lies along France's Mediterranean coast between the cities of Marseille and Nice.

More than 2,300 homes were without power, the prefecture said overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday.

One fire engine was damaged and four firefighters and two residents of Pontèves suffered minor smoke inhalation, according to local authorities.

Very dry conditions in the area have caused an extreme forest-fire risk, according to the French weather service Meteo-France.

Fuelled by repeated heatwaves and drought, the 2026 wildfire season began earlier than usual, and firefighters have been battling near-daily outbreaks across France in recent weeks.

Another major blaze burned 200 hectares and destroyed homes in the Var region between Sunday and Monday near Les Arcs-sur-Argens.

Nearly 40,000 hectares have burned in France since the start of the year, "far more than was burned during the whole of last year", according to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez.

Wildfires were also active elsewhere in France.

In the Alps, a lightning-sparked blaze that began five days ago had burned 130 hectares in a remote area of the Écrins mountain range.

On the Mediterranean island of Corsica, firefighters were still battling a blaze near Corte after nine days.

FRANCE 24 + AFP