The blaze ripped through 500 hectares of land in the holiday region of Pyrenees-Orientales, close to Spain's border.
The fire broke out on Monday afternoon at 5pm and spread rapidly near the villages of Saint-Andre, Sorede and the seaside resort of Argeles, due to the 'extremely hot weather, drought and strong winds of up to 180km/hr'.
It has so far gutted around 30 homes, incinerated cars and destroyed a campsite in the commune of Saint-Andre.
Children can be heard screaming by campsites as the flames get dangerously close in video footage.
Families were quickly forced to flee the terrifying scene as black smoke filled the sky.
The local mayor of Saint-Andre said she saw dozens of 'families with flabbergasted children' walk through the doors, some still in their swimsuits as they were unable to reach their campsite due to flames.
'Our town is hard hit, there is a lot of damage,' she told France Bleu.
'The village is burned on both sides, a third has been hit by the fire.'
While the wildfire has now been contained, it remains dangerous with 450 firefighters backed up by surveillance aircraft.
The Albères area remains on red alert for fire risk.
'The fire has been contained,' senior regional official Rodrigue Furcy told local radio, but the worst affected area was 'under close surveillance and firefighters were still battling the blaze'.
Around 17 firefighters sustained light injuries and one was admitted to hospital after a fall 'but the good news is that there have been no fatalities', Furcy continued.
Roussillon Bernadette Michalak Guimbert, the deputy mayor of Argeles-sur-Mer, told France Bleu she saw families arrive in the town hall 'in swimsuits' because 'they were returning from the beach or from walks and they could not reach their campsite'.
Guimbert added among the evacuees are 'many families with flabbergasted children'. She said they woke up this morning 'very dazed' after they were forced to flee the flames of the roaring wildfire.
Several roads are still closed and the train service from Perpignan to the Spanish border was suspended for several hours.
The Pyrenees-Orientales region has been affected worse than any other French region by a devastating drought.
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