Around 20,000 people were evacuated from towns and holiday resorts in southwestern France as a wildfire raged near the popular tourist coastal town of Lege Cap-Ferret. In addition, more than 1,000 residents living in residential areas along the forest edge have also been evacuated from the area. Sophie Brocas, the prefect of the surrounding Gironde region, said authorities later evacuated 8,800 people from the village of Claouey, including residents staying at several campsites, as a precautionary measure. Following a succession of heat waves that began before summer, wildfires have raged across France in recent weeks, including near Paris. That small but extremely virulent fire killed 13 people, including seven Britons, in one of the southern European country's deadliest wildfires.