"5,000 hectares burnt in a single night" near Belin-Beliet, in Gironde, where firefighters found themselves "in an area with a lot of scattered settlements" says Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Mendousse. "Unfortunately, several houses were destroyed," he added. (COMPLETES VIDI32GC6NX_EN, VIDI32GC74D_EN, VIDI32GC7U7_EN, VIDI32GC8RG_EN, VIDI32GD32N_EN) IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES