A violent fire on the coast near Marseille was "under control" on Wednesday but left scenes of desolation: charred trees, burnt campsites, families shocked after being evacuated at night, sometimes by sea, to escape the flames. "The fire is under control," said a Bouches-du-Rhône firefighter at midday, while around 1,025 hectares of pines burned. The fire is "under control" when the larger flames are extinguished.
At least 2,700 people, including many French and foreign tourists, had to be evacuated overnight to escape the fire devouring the Côte Bleue, an area on the shores of the Mediterranean bordered by pines and forests, west of Marseille. . An establishment for dependent elderly people (Ehpad) also had to be evacuated.
The "panic", but no victims
"A great point of relief is that there are no victims. However, there could have been many victims: two holiday villages were destroyed and then all along the path of the fire, there was houses that have been affected, "Gaby Charroux, mayor of Martigues, the city most affected by the disaster, told AFP.
"It was panic, we had to go down to the beach and we saw the flames getting closer," Maryse Escuder, 83, on vacation with her family and her great-grandchildren at the La campsite told AFP. Source, and who ended up sleeping in a gymnasium in Martigues.
1,800 firefighters mobilized
The firefighters continue their operations on the scene to avoid any recovery, and remain "vigilant" because of an announced southerly wind and rising temperatures. Some 1,800 firefighters as well as water bombers fought hard against the fire which broke out at around 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
A second fire that broke out near the industrial zone of the port of Marseille-Fos devastated 130 ha, destroying or damaging a house and several businesses, firefighters said on Wednesday.
The Departmental Directorate of Public Security (DDSP13) is responsible for investigating the causes of the fire, its spokesperson, Arnaud Louis, told AFP. All the tracks are studied. Between 2015 and 2019, 9,300 ha of forest burned on average each year in the departments of the French Mediterranean coast.