Several homes were destroyed or damaged by the flames in Vitrolles.
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Debris litters the remains of a burnt building in Funchal, the capital of Portugal’s Madeira island Wednesday, Aug. 10 2016.
Firefighters in Portugal are also battling multiple blazes fed by brush in a hot, dry summer.
In an immediate response to Portugal’s request for assistance, the European Union activated the Civil Protection Mechanism to help stop the spread of forest fires in several parts of the country.
A French fireman walks in the road as smoke fills the sky and blocks the sun as fires burn north of Marseille, France, August 10, 2016.
Two people were reported injured, one of them seriously, as the fire in Vitrolles moved toward Marseille, about 15 miles south. Firefighters said that 20 to 25 homes were burned.
The Madeira fire forced the evacuation of over 1,000 residents and tourists.
Air tankers were seen taking off from the firefighters’ base in nearby Aix-en-Provence heading towards Marseille, France’s second city, as fires continued to smoulder in the area.
There was no letup in the high southern winds, known as the Mistral, raising the risk of new bursts of flames after the worst blaze in recent years was contained.
The largest fire was burning in the Rognac area, spreading southward to Vitrolles, Pennes-Mirabeau and Cabries.
His government released a statement Thursday assuring visitors that tourism facilities on the island – a popular vacation destination – were returning to normal, despite the fires still burning.
Three civilians and four fighters were injured by the fires, some seriously. More than 3,000 hectares of vegetation were destroyed in the Marseille area, the Herault and the Pyrenees-Orientales regions. More than 1,000 had spent the night in gymnasiums.
“Today, at this time, the fire is, as we say, mastered”.
At the port of Fos-sur-Mer, northwest of Marseille, 800 hectares (2,000 acres) went up in flames on Wednesday, local official Jean Rampon told AFP.
Motorways have been closed and flights cancelled at the Marseilles airport as firefighters remain alert with more windy conditions expected.
The inferno engulfed homes and at least one school in the region.
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Wildfires are raging in Portugal for the sixth day with an estimated 186 fires burning on the mainland.
