00:00Fire crews and water bombers battled on Monday to control a massive wildfire in southwest
00:07France,
00:08before a predicted rise in temperatures further complicates the massive firefighting operation
00:14against a fire that has already ravaged an area equivalent to four times the size of Paris.
00:20According to the Associated Press, thousands of firefighters were deployed on the ground.
00:24and constant rotations of aircraft that drop water and retardant from the air,
00:29The situation became a race against time,
00:32before temperatures are expected to rise again starting on Tuesday.
00:36which could make fighting the flames even more difficult.
00:40The crews, supported by heavy machinery, opened strips of land in wooded and scrubland areas.
00:47to create firebreaks designed to slow the advance of the flames.
00:51Local farmers helped by supplying water to the emergency teams, transporting it in tankers.
00:57Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported that the fire had stopped spreading.
01:03A first sign of hope since the disaster forced an astonishing number to flee.
01:09of 220,000 people in the region near the city of Bordeaux.
01:14However, with the forests still smoldering, the minister warned that the battle is not yet won.
01:21"There has been no progress overnight," Núñez stated.
01:25We must remain very focused, very determined, to act at any moment.
01:32These statements came after French President Emmanuel Macron,
01:37He chaired a crisis meeting on Monday focused on the fire in the Gironde region.
01:42and in other hotspots that emergency teams continue to fight in other areas of the country.
01:47The Gironde prefecture indicated that the situation remained generally stable overnight.
01:54This is a change from previous days, when authorities warned that the flames had
01:59It has come within just 15 kilometers of the outskirts of Bordeaux, a historic city of 268,000
02:06inhabitants, generating self-fueled firestorms with lightning that caused new fires.
02:13No new evacuations were announced on Monday.
02:16However, with France about to enter its peak tourist season in August,
02:21The authorities in Gironde worked to keep visitors away.
02:26banning holiday camps for children and people with disabilities.
02:31Núñez also urged the population to avoid the region,
02:35very popular for its Atlantic beaches and some of the most extensive forests in France.
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