French firefighters battle blazes with military cargo planes

Wildfires tearing through southwest France have forced more than three hundred thousand people to flee, with fire crews overwhelmed as the flames advanced on Sunday, France 24 reports. To help hold the line, the French military converted a giant A400M cargo aircraft into an aerial firefighting tool, using it to drop a long plume of ochre-colored retardant over the arid, threatened woodlands. The move reflects how stretched ground crews have turned to military hardware to keep pace with the unpredictable blazes.

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