The fire near the Mediterranean coast has ravaged a vast area of the southern Aude department at the peak of the summer tourist season, killing one person and injuring several others.

"The fire is contained but ... until Sunday evening the fire will not be under control," said Christophe Magny, chief of the region's firefighter unit.

Authorities warned that Sunday's forecasted hot, dry winds -- similar to those when the fire began -- and a heatwave alert with temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius would keep the some 1,400 firefighters mobilised on high alert.

"The firefighters will do their utmost before the return of the tramontane" this weekend, the president of the Aude departmental council, Helene Sandragne, told AFP, referring to a northerly wind that regularly blows through the area.

The blaze -- the largest in at least 50 years -- tore through 16,000 hectares of vegetation, disaster officials said, revising an earlier estimate of 17,000 hectares.

About 2,000 people were evacuated, though local authorities allowed them to return home on Friday evening.

In Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, a 65-year-old woman was found dead Wednesday in her home, which was devastated by flames.

Authorities said one resident suffered serious burns and four others were lightly injured, while 19 firefighters were hurt, including one with a head injury.

Experts say European countries are becoming ever more vulnerable to such disasters due to intensifying summer heatwaves linked to global warming.