PHOTOS: Wildfires In Southern France Burn Thousands Of Acres Near Tourist Hotspots

Massive blazes that had consumed swaths of a forest this week in southern France turned into a burning furnace when a new wildfire broke out in the region Tuesday. This forced authorities to evacuate at least 10,000 people, including holiday makers and campers, reports said.

The fires caused chaos in southern France overnight, including the Var and Vaucluse areas, the town of Carros and also northern Corsica. These areas are famous as tourist spots and during the summers, the population nearly doubles in these regions, reports said.

“The evacuations, at least 10,000, followed the progression of the fire. It’s an area that doubles or triples its population in summer,” the Guardian reported citing a fire service official Wednesday of the blaze near Bormes-les-Mimosas on the Mediterranean coast.

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Twitter users took to social media to post videos and photographs of the wildfire in France and many expressed their concern for their loved ones who reside in those areas.

Hundreds of firefighters had been deployed to put out the fires near Bormes-les-Mimoses, in the country's Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, where tourists flock in thousands every year to enjoy the beach.

Some 4,000 hectares (15.4 sq miles) of land have been charred by fire, along the Mediterranean coast, in the mountainous interior and on the island of Corsica.

Since Monday, more than 4,000 firefighters and troops backed by water bombers have been fighting to extinguish the flames. In the process, 12 firefighters have been injured and 15 police officers have suffered smoke inhalation, the BBC reported citing officials.

The strong winds and dry bush in the areas have aggravated the situation and is posing a problem for the officials to put out the fire. The French government has asked its European Union partners to send two extra firefighting planes and this request was instantly acted upon by Italy, the Guardian reported citing the E.U.

During a visit to Corsica, Gerard Collomb, interior minister, announced Tuesday that France would be adding six more firefighting planes to its fleet, reports said.

Some tourists shared their travel travails after the fire started. Lisa Minot, the Sun's travel editor, who was among the many tourists staying in a campsite near St-Tropez, told the BBC that all tourists were evacuated at about 2:00 local time (8 p.m. EDT). They all spent the night on the beach it was not safe to go back to the wooded campsite which was not very far away from the blaze. Minot added that as many as 3,000 tourists, some from other campsites as well, stayed at the beach amid the cold winds.

"People are just very tired," Minot said, adding that there very young children among the evacuees.

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84-year-old actress Joan Collins was forced to flee her Saint Tropez villa as the blaze ripped through the area.

She wrote on Twitter: "Luckily we were able to evacuate last night, not easy with 11 people in the house! We are all okay."

She also shared a picture of the area near her villa which was burning.