A massive wildfire that has scorched through 16,000 hectares of forest and villages in southern France since Tuesday is spreading more slowly but is still not under control, officials said on Thursday.

France’s biggest wildfire in nearly eight decades has killed a woman who officials said had disregarded evacuation orders and destroyed dozens of houses, forcing about 2,000 residents and holidaymakers to flee.

Plumes of smoke rose over the forest area in the Aude region. Drone footage showed swathes of charred earth after the fire swept across an area one-and-a-half times the size of Paris.

“We don’t have water, internet and electricity anymore. We have nothing. It’s the apocalypse,” said resident and farmer Alain Reneau, who lives in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, a village hit hard by the fire.

“We saved the house, but we had to fight the whole night, for two days.”

The blaze, not far from the border with Spain and the Mediterranean Sea, has spread unusually rapidly, fanned by strong winds and very dry vegetation, following months of drought in the area.

It is now advancing more slowly, Environment Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said.

“The night was cooler, the fire is progressing more slowly, but it remains the most significant wildfire France has experienced since 1949,” Pannier-Runacher told France Info radio.

“This is a wildfire that is a consequence of climate change, of drought in this region,” she said.

The local prefect, Christian Pouget, told reporters that around 2,000 firefighters were on the ground to fight against flare-ups.

“The battle isn’t over yet — the fire could reignite with greater force,” Pouget said. “We have a fire that is not yet contained, but it is no longer advancing along its edges.”

Thirteen people have been injured in the fire, officials said. Two people, including a firefighter, are in a critical condition.

An investigation is under way to find out what caused the blaze.

“Never in my life (have I seen) fires like this,” 77-year-old retiree Simon Gomez said in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse.

Scientists say the Mediterranean region’s hotter, drier summers put it at high risk of wildfires.

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

“We’re at war, but also, we will win the war,” said Xavier Guille, a local vineyard owner who was helping firefighters battle the blaze.

Guille lost woodland to the fire but his vineyard was unharmed. “My in-laws lost their home in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, it was one of the first homes that burned.”