The fiery inferno continues for the 3rd day in France, as firefighters continue to battle today to contain the largest fire that has broken out in the country in nearly eight decades, which started Tuesday afternoon in the village of Ribot, between Carcassonne and Narbonne, in a forested area of the Odé prefecture in the south of the country, and has so far burned more than 160.000 hectares and has claimed the life of one person.

Powerful and frightening images show the biggest fire in France since 1949, raging in the Aude department. The blaze is out of control.

So far, one person has died and nine others are injured. pic.twitter.com/yh3riMGhHU

— S M Torikul Islam (@mrtorikulislam) August 7, 2025

The fire, which is raging near the border with Spain on the Mediterranean side, has already burned an area larger than Paris. Officials said it is the largest in France since 1949.

The wind, which had been pushing the flames toward the Mediterranean coast, shifted on Wednesday, again turning the fire toward the Corbières mountain range, where some 15 villages are located that had already been affected, directly or indirectly, by the fire.

“The back of the fire became the front of the fire,” said Colonel Mani. And the front, which is still uncontrolled, is moving back toward “the point where it started” and into “several inaccessible forested areas,” he added.

It will be recalled that in the village of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrérice, a 65-year-old woman was found dead inside her burnt house, which she had refused to leave.

The prefecture also said there were 13 injured: two residents were hospitalized, one with serious burns, and eleven firefighters, according to Interior Minister Bruno Retayo.