At least 450 residents of Marseille have been evacuated by the forest fires that are ravaging the region. In a press release, the mayor calls on all residents to stay indoors and close windows and doors. Emergency services in the southern French city, which is home to more than 870,000 people, have set up four gymnasiums to accommodate residents who have to leave their homes.
According to the fire department, the conditions are very unfavorable, due to the persistent heat, and the fire is spreading"very quickly." The fire has so far destroyed an area of 700 hectares. Some 720 firefighters are on the site to extinguish the fire. Nine firefighters have been injured in the meantime.
"The situation is not out of control, but the fire is not yet under control. That will only happen when the wind dies down," Benoît Payan, the mayor of Marseille, told BFMTV. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau is expected to arrive in Marseille around 10:30 p.m. for a crisis visit.
On Tuesday, a new fire broke out in Les Pennes-Mirabeau, a municipality near Marseille. The smoke clouds reached above the city. Public transport in and around Marseille was severely disrupted. Around noon, Marseille airport was closed to all air traffic. Marseille central station will remain open for the time being. All TGV trains from Paris to Marseille, Toulon and Nice have been cancelled, reports Le Monde. This is causing chaos at Lyon train station, among other places.
Evacuations at Narbonne
Also in the area around the city of Narbonne, at least 20 square kilometers of nature went up in flames. At least five houses went up in flames, French media report. Five citizens needed care, including a child. Residents of several neighborhoods had to be evacuated. The power went out temporarily in some municipalities. More than a thousand firefighters were deployed to fight the fire. Five emergency workers were slightly injured.
The A9 motorway, which connects France to Spain, was closed. Those who got stuck in the huge traffic jams had to spend the night in their cars. Some 150 people were able to go to an emergency shelter in the Parc des Expositions in Narbonne, others stayed overnight in schools in nearby municipalities.
The danger has not yet passed: The fire “is still active”, the authorities warned on Tuesday, adding that traffic “will remain severely disrupted”. The motorway reopened briefly on Tuesday, but was closed again on Tuesday evening between Sète and Agde, in both directions.
Wine estate
The fire near Narbonne started around 3pm on a wine estate near the D613 departmental road, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The exact cause is still unknown, but it is certain that strong winds fanned the flames. The region has been plagued by heat and drought for weeks.
In recent weeks, two other fires in the area have each burned down 4 square kilometres of natural area. Since Monday, the Aude department, like the Var and Bouches-du-Rhône departments, has been under a red fire warning.
Spain
On the other side of the Pyrenees, Spain is also struggling with severe forest fires. In the northeast of the country, a forest fire has already reduced more than 23 square kilometers to ashes. The fire is raging mainly in the Els Ports nature park in Paüls, near Tarragona. Since the beginning of the summer, a total of 210 square kilometers have gone up in flames in the country, according to data from the European forest fire information system Effis.
