France, Aug. 7 -- Nine Ukrainian fire engines are in Gironde, the southwest department at the epicentre of France's wildfires.

Concentrated around the village of Le Porge, firefighters from Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and other parts of western Ukraine head out to comb the still smouldering woodland.

The last remaining hotspots now lie buried under a few centimetres of earth, explains French firefighter Thomas Mimiague.

"We need to work by hand to move away the earth and sand and bring whatever is still burning back to the surface so we can put it out." Ukrainian firefighters prepare for a mission near Le Porge.

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