Firefighters from across Europe fight French wildfires

STORY: Firefighters from Germany, Romania, Greece and beyond were on the ground to help France battle the fire in the region - home to Bordeaux wine - as well as on other fronts, including in Brittany in the northwest.

The German crew from Bonn Fire Brigade, wearing their local uniforms and using their own fire engine, assisted French firefighters by digging fire breaks and hosing charred meadows in Belin-Beliet, in the southwestern Gironde region.

German brigade officer Martin Haselbauer, who also leads the German-EU Forest Fighting team, said it is a natural response to help his French colleagues.

“We work close, shoulder on shoulder with other EU teams, like teams from Poland, from Romania, the Austrian team, and from our point of view that's European solidarity at its best,” he said.

High temperatures and a worsening drought brought a high risk of new fires breaking out in southwestern France, officials said on Friday, even after an overnight reprieve held a monster wildfire that has been raging for days in check.

The ongoing heatwave - officially France's third this summer - was set to ebb on Saturday (August 13) and end on Sunday (August 14) with storms, France's official weather forecast Meteo France said.