Campsites on the Blue Coast, on the Mediterranean coast west of Marseille, are being evacuated on Tuesday evening, a violent fire having already devastated several hundred hectares of vegetation. Holidaymakers from three campsites in La Couronne, a seaside district in the town of Martigues (Bouches-du-Rhône), were asked to regroup on the beach facing the progression of the fire, told AFP the national police.
An AFP journalist at La Couronne by the sea saw huge plumes of black smoke and flames along the roadside as well as Canadair water bomber planes in action. The fire that broke out in the middle of the forest had already devastated 500 hectares of vegetation around 8 p.m., firefighters told AFP.
Cut roads
More than 1,000 firefighters, supported by seven Canadair planes, are fighting against the flames in this sector to the south-west of Martigues, on the edge of the seaside towns of Carry-le-Rouet and Sausset-les-Pins. "For the moment, the fire which is the most worrying to my knowledge does not threaten industrial installations," Pierre Dartout, prefect of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, told AFP, referring to the industrial zone. -port of Fos-sur-Mer, near which another fire had started. This fire is now stabilized.
🔴🔴 [# Operations] More
than 1000 #Firefighters are mobilized on #FeuxDeForêt in @ departement13 in particular on #Martigues and #PortDeBouc
Many homes and businesses are not protected against violent #fires.
⚠️ from #Martigues:
Do not take the RD5 and RD9. pic.twitter.com/MHhNBo9AAD
“We were in Martigues to do some shopping but now we can't go home to La Couronne. We tried to go by the coast, but all the roads are cut, it burns everywhere, it's terrible. We are very worried because my elderly father has stayed at La Couronne and it's hard not to know what's going on, ”Mylène Greffeuille testified to AFP by telephone. In the evening, the town hall of Martigues, which carried out the evacuation of a district, announced the opening of three centers to welcome people leaving districts threatened by the flames.
"The fire is currently at the D9, the Côte Bleue expressway and is heading towards Sausset [another seaside resort]", added the town hall in a statement. The roads of Saint-Pierre, Sausset and La Couronne Carro are closed. From 6 p.m., a portion of the A55 motorway between Marseille and Martigues was also closed. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who came to visit the firefighters in the area on Tuesday morning, announced on Twitter that he would go there "at the end of the evening or at night".
Miscellaneous
Ardèche: The forest fire that threatened homes is under control
Miscellaneous
Anglet fire: Damage, liability, forecasts ... Where is the investigation?
- Miscellaneous
- Fire
- Marseilles
- Martigues