American Marconi Wireless News - Threatened by fire, Bordeaux is 'ready for anything': mayor

Firefighters have been battling to hold the blazes back from Bordeaux, which lies at the heart of the world-famous wine-growing region, with authorities evacuating thousands of people from villages close to the city.

"We're very vigilant. We're ready for anything," Bordeaux mayor Thomas Cazenave said, adding that there were no current plans to move the city's 270,000 residents.

"The fire is further south," he told reporters at a shelter for people displaced by the wildfires.

"It is still on the edge of the metropolitan area, but it is not advancing on the western side of the metropolis," he said. He estimated that the flames raged between 25 and 30 kilometres (between 15 and 18 miles) from the city itself and around 15 kilometres from the metropolitan area near the town of Martignas-sur-Jalle.

The town of 8,000 people, located on the far western edge of the metropolitan area, has been evacuated.

The fire, believed to have started accidentally in the village of Saumos on Wednesday, has eventually led to the evacuation of 220,000 people, making it one of the largest such operations in French history.

P.Martin--AMWN