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       Firefighters are battling for a third day to contain France’s biggest wildfire in nearly eight decades, which has burnt more than 16,000 hectares, killed one person, and destroyed dozens of houses.

       As well as the person who has died, three are missing, and two people, including a firefighter, are in critical condition, local authorities said.

       Images showed plumes of smoke rising over the forest area in the region of Aude in southern France.

       “As of now, the fire has not been brought under control,” Christophe Magny, one of the officials leading the firefighting operation, told broadcaster BFM TV. He added that he hoped the blaze could be contained later in the day.

       The fire, around 100km from the border with Spain and close to the Mediterranean, began on Tuesday and has spread rapidly. It has already swept through an area one and a half times the size of Paris. Officials have said it is France’s biggest wildfire since 1949.

       The fire is now advancing more slowly, environment minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told radio station France Info.

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       A firefighter uses his phone as a wildfire burns near Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, southern France, on Thursday(Reuters)

       Villagers sought to help douse the flames or save their homes and small businesses, and described their alarm at the speed of the fire. Ash filled the air and coated windows and cars, and several roads were closed around the region.

       “The sky was blue, and then less than an hour later the sky was orange,” said Andy Pickup of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, at the heart of the fire zone. “That’s when we went out and tried to help.

       “We heard pops and cracks – it was the trees, it was the village,” he told reporters. “We could see the fires taking hold on all the hills around Saint-Laurent.”

       At dusk, he said, they saw fires in every direction, some as close as 100 metres away.

       Three people were missing, the prefecture said.

       A map of the area

       Jacques Piraux, mayor of the village of Jonquieres, said all residents had been evacuated.

       “It’s a scene of sadness and desolation,” he told BFM TV after visiting Jonquieres on Wednesday morning. “It looks like a lunar landscape; everything is burnt. More than half or three-quarters of the village has burnt down. It’s hellish.”

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       A house stands among burnt trees during France’s biggest wildfire since 1949, near Durban-Corbieres, southern France(AP)

       Residents and tourists in nearby areas were advised to remain in their homes unless they were told to evacuate. Two campsites were evacuated as a precaution.

       On Wednesday afternoon, France’s prime minister met with firefighters and residents at Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, where the fire service’s command post has been set up. He said he had come to express “national solidarity”.

       “The area’s economy is relying on winery and tourism, and both sectors are affected,” he said.

       An investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the fire.

       “We’ve lived here for 10 years and seen nothing like that,” Mr Pickup said. “Consistently the summers are getting hotter, there is less and less rain, and that is a major problem. We have been told the wind might become stronger tomorrow.”

       Scientists say that hotter, drier summers in the Mediterranean mean the region is at high risk of suffering wildfires.

       France’s weather office has warned of a new heatwave starting in other parts of southern France on Friday, which is due to last several days.