France wildfire threatens famed Bordeaux wine region

France's armed forces deployed turboprop military aircraft to dump tons of flame retardants as it battled raging wildfires on Saturday.

Across the sky of Gironde, plume of ochre-colored retardant trail over drought-hit woodlands in the southwest as fire crews on the ground fought flames that authorities feared could spread toward the wine region of Bordeaux.

With winds expected to shift in a west-to-east direction on Saturday afternoon, potentially driving flames closer to Bordeaux, fire crews and authorities were digging trenches, using retardants and taking other blaze-blocking steps,

The latest wildfires in southern Europe this week have displaced more than 250,000 people, including some 70,000 people who were evacuated in central Spain.

One man died in Manises, the municipality reported on its Facebook page, the first death so far in the blazes.