Residents of a small French village spared from the country's biggest wildfire in decades said the flames came close but local vegetation acted like a firebreaker, keeping them safe.

Fance’s biggest wildfire in years was spreading quickly Wednesday in a Mediterranean region near Spain after leaving one person dead and several injured, authorities said.

The fire burned an area larger than Paris, and the military was called in to help.

Coustouge is a small village standing at the south end of the Corbieres.

Surrounded by hills covered in black with charred trees and bushes and the occasional vineyard that acted as a fire breaker, the entire village was saved from being damaged by the fire.

Paulette, a retired archaeologist and her husband, an also retired forest technician, said that at one point they had been completely encircled by the flames.

"We couldn’t walk further than that bridge over there," she recounted.

"We participated in the tasks of taking water from the deposit we have that collects rainwater. We opened the taps and took turns, before we started taking water from the house, because there was only one fire truck.”

More than half of the 100 residents of the hamlet sought refuge in the nearby town of Tuchan, where they are sheltered at a public sports facility.

The village continues to have all infrastructure cut off.

Firefighters and local authorities remained on high alert Friday after the blaze was contained in the south of the country, amid forecasts of very high temperatures which could reignite it.

Over three days, the fire spread across more than 160 square kilometers (62 square miles) in the Aude wine region and claimed one life, forcing hundreds of residents to flee their homes.

In hot and dry weather, the blaze quickly spread with a perimeter reaching 90 kilometres and local authorities said they need to remain vigilant throughout the weekend as temperatures are expected to rise above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) during another heat wave.

Region administrator Christian Pouget said some 1,000 people have not yet been able to return to their homes after the fire swept through 15 communes in the Corbières mountain region, destroying or damaging at least 36 homes.

One person died at home, and at least 21 others were injured, including 16 firefighters, according to local authorities.

Some 1,300 homes were still without electricity on Friday morning after infrastructure was extensively damaged, the Aude prefecture said.

Residents have been warned not to return home without authorization, as many roads remain blocked and dangerous.

Those forced to flee have been housed in emergency shelters across 17 municipalities.

An investigation is underway to determine what sparked the fire.

The fire was the largest recorded since France’s national fire database was created in 2006.