The blaze, which has grown to nearly 40,000 acres, was the country’s biggest since 1949, the civil defense chief said.

The blaze, which tore through the Corbieres massif in the Aude region, remains uncontained despite the deployment of more than 2,100 firefighters.

French officials have confirmed that one person is dead and 13 are injured in a wildfire in southern France, the largest France has dealt with in decades.