Marseille wildfires shut airport and force thousands to flee

Telegraph

6 hours ago

A wildfire has reached the French city of Marseille, causing the airport to close and forcing thousands of people to leave their homes.
Benoît Payan, the city's mayor, demanded a mini lockdown to make room for emergency workers to tackle the blaze, as fierce winds whipped up the flames.
Residents on the city's outskirts have been ordered to stay at home, shut their doors and bring down shutters to protect themselves.
Mr Payan wrote on social media: 'I ask all the people of Marseille to be extremely vigilant and to limit their movements as much as possible to make room for relief, especially in the north of the city.
'The people of Marseille in the 16th arrondissement are invited to remain confined.'
An emergency message broadcast to mobile phones in the area added: 'Forest fire in Marseille. Leave the forest immediately. Confine yourself in a hard building. Close shutters and doors.'
The wildfire, which broke out north of the coastal city, has already spread across 350 hectares, according to local firefighters, who have warned the weather conditions are 'extremely unfavourable'.
'It's very striking - apocalyptic even,' said Monique Baillard, a resident of Les Pennes-Mirabeau, a town north of Marseille.
A local bank worker reached by phone told the Reuters news agency: 'The sky is grey with ash, and the smell of fire is very strong in the centre of Marseille.'
The 44 mph winds driving the blaze towards the city are not expected to weaken until at least 11pm local time.
The fire was caused by a car that caught fire on the motorway near Marseille on Tuesday morning. Within two hours, it had spread across 30 hectares.
Large plumes of smoke could be seen from the port city's marina as the fire approached it from at least two directions.
Train traffic in and out of Marseille has been impacted as the flames came within touching distance of tracks in the northern part of the city.
Helicopters, fire engines and 168 firefighters have been drafted in to tackle the blaze near the town of Les Pennes-Mirabeau, on the northern edge of Marseille.
More than 560 emergency workers have been made available to join the efforts in the coming hours.
Official Christian Pouget described the blaze as one of the most ferocious in the last 10 years, and at 4pm local time said it was still not under control.
The impacted Bouches-du-Rhône region has not recorded a single drop of rain since May 19.
The southern port town is France's second most populated city with a population of 870,000 and is incredibly popular with visiting tourists in the summer months.
Locals have been urged to remain at home or to stay in buildings, as the authorities want to avoid a repeat of an incident in 2017 which saw dozens of people killed on the roads while trying to flee wildfires in Portugal.
Lieutenant-Colonel Frédéric Harrault, spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior, said: 'We must remember the tragedy that Portugal experienced in 2017. That summer, more than 60 people died, most trapped by the flames while driving to leave the mountain area on which the fire was progressing.'