Wildfire threatens Marseille as a thousand firefighters defend a city

A thousand firefighters have been mobilized to fight with a wild fire that reached the outer edge of Marseille, the second largest city of France.

“The marine firefighter battalion waged a guerrilla war, hoses in his hand,” said Mayor Benoo Palan, citing the Marseille’s fire and rescue service.

The prefect of the Bouches-DU-Rhône region, Georges-Francois Lecturers, called on the locals to remain indoors and said the firefighters were “protecting” the city.

He said that although the situation was not static, it was “under control”.

At least 400 people are evacuated from their homes, according to the French media. Nine firefighters are said to have been injured.

About 20 buildings were at least partly hit by the fire and hundreds of homes were rescued by firefighters, Leclerc said.

In its peak, the fire spread at 1.2 km (0.7 miles) per minute, Pajan said, according to French television operator BFMTV. This is due to a unique combination of gusts of wind, dense vegetation and steep slopes.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who was on a state visit to the UK, expressed support for fire crews and urging residents to follow the safety instructions.

“Our thoughts are of the wounded and all the inhabitants,” he writes to X.

Interior Minister Bruno Pettele arrived in Marseille on Tuesday night, where he met with local employees.

Marseille Provence Airport partially opened after being closed after lunch. Julien Ark, president at the airport, said “has never experienced a situation of such magnitude.”

Residents are advised to stay inside, close lids and doors and maintain clear roads for emergency services.

The fire, which erupted earlier on Tuesday near Penes-Medaban, north of Marseille, is said to have covered about 700 hectares (7 square km).

Local authorities said the explosion was ignited by a car that was lit on the highway and that it could continue to spread, as the strong winds were ready to blow until late tonight.

“It’s very striking – even an apocalyptic,” Monique Bailar, a resident of the city, told a Reuters agency. She said many of her neighbors had already left.

Pajan asked the residents to remain “extremely vigilant” and to limit their movements.

The footage, published online, showed huge flows of smoke over Marseille as fire raged in a hilly zone to the north.

The Bouches-Du-Rhône area has not registered a single drop of rain since May 19, according to BFMTV.

Elsewhere in France, another fire, which began near Narbonne on Monday, remains active, swollen by winds of 60 km/h (40MPH). About 2000 hectares have burned, local employees said.

In other parts of Europe, wild fires have been reported, including the Catalonia region in northeastern Spain, where more than 18,000 people have been ordered to stay home because of a wild fire in the eastern province of Taragona.

The emergency units were located with 300 firefighters, as the strong winds overnight ignited the flames, which spread over nearly 3000 hectares (7 413 decares) land.

Several other parts of Spain – who were experiencing their hottest June on the record – were on the lookout for wild fires.

About 41 wild fires across the country broke out in Greece on Monday. Of these, 34 were contained early, while seven remained active on Monday night, according to the fire service.

Much of Western and Southern Europe were affected by the burning early summer heat wave, causing fires that saw thousands of evacuated from their homes.