Paris, France

More than 140,000 people have been evacuated as vast wildfires tear through France's southwest, the country's interior ministry said Friday.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told TF1 television that the count covered the period since Wednesday, when the blazes began to turn into what he called a "completely unprecedented" situation.

France, he said, had never before seen this type of fire on this scale. He said they were convective fires, which generate air currents spreading heat to wider areas and speeding their advance.

His ministry said 110,000 people were evacuated in the Gironde region, which hosts the major city of Bordeaux, and 31,000 were evacuated in the adjoining Landes region.

The fires occurred at the peak of the European summer vacation season, meaning locals and holidaymakers had to flee.

Separately, officials in the Gironde region said 100 buildings were destroyed by fire, and 19,000 hectares (47,000 acres) were scorched.

Nunez pledged that French authorities would "do everything to protect" the city of Bordeaux, the total urban population of which neared one million.

sc/rmb/ach