The wildfire that has been burning since Wednesday in the Gironde department of southwestern France and is advancing toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area has made it necessary to evacuate seven municipalities “as a precautionary measure,” the prefecture announced on Friday evening.

The evacuation order applies to residents of the municipalities of:

• Saint-Médard-en-Jalles (population 33,000)
• Le Haillan (11,400)
• Saint-Jean-d’Illac (9,600)
• Martignas-sur-Jalle (8,000)
• Saint-Aubin-de-Médoc (7,800)

The measure also partially affects the municipalities of:

• Mérignac (78,000)
• Eysines (24,800)

Over the past three days, the wildfire has burned 190,000 acres and around 100 buildings.

French President Emmanuel Macron has instructed the military “to provide the maximum possible support” to the Civil Protection authorities, as the wildfire fronts in the country’s southwest have reached “unprecedented proportions.”