Satellites watch France's largest wildfire in 75 years burn an area larger than Paris

Satellite images reveal the scope of destruction in the south of France caused by the worst wildfire to hit the country in over seven decades.

The fire was first detected on Tuesday (Aug. 5), near the town of Ribaute in the Aude region in the southeast of France. Within less than four days, it turned some 42,000 acres (17,000 hectares) of forests and agricultural land into ashes  — an area larger than France's capital Paris.

The scope of the fire was captured in dramatic images taken by the high-resolution Pleiades Neo satellites operated by the European aerospace giant Airbus.

At its peak strength, the blaze was devouring about 2,470 acres (1,000 hectares) of land per hour, fanned by strong winds blowing from the Mediterranean Sea. Within two days of its ignition, the fire devoured 40,