MARSEILLE, France (AP) Firefighters in southern France brought in reinforcements from across the country on Thursday to help smother the last flames and douse dry brush after wind-whipped wildfires devastated thousands of acres and destroyed homes but spared Marseille, the nation’s second-largest city.
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Hot, dry summer weather and treacherous winds have combined to make life hard for firefighters battling huge blazes in France, Spain and Portugal.
A blaze that had been moving rapidly in the direction of Marseille has been halted “at the gates to the city”, while other fires have been doused.
Local residents have left their homes and taken refuge in sports centres, and some 1,500 firefighters have been fighting the flames. Two arrests were made in the deadliest Portuguese fire, the one on the island of Madeira that killed three people. Hundreds there were forced to evacuate their homes and seek shelter.
Forest fires in Madeira forced the evacuation of more than 1,000 resid. The Marseille airport said it was rerouting incoming flights to make way for firefighting aircraft.
Authorities say 80 people are in hospital with burns, including two in a serious condition.
A fourth death was reported on the Portuguese mainland as wildfires raged in central regions.
The evacuations Wednesday represent nearly 15 percent of the population of Vitrolles, about 15 miles north of Marseille. At least 37 houses and a five-star hotel had burned down. “The fire is extremely powerful, fast, explosive, and continues burning everything in its path”, firefighters said in a statement from a temporary headquarters set up in Vitrolles. The deputy said the city was setting up firewalls on the corridor leading toward it, but if the fire passes those, “it will move toward the northern neighborhoods of Marseille”.
“The fire is progressing”.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, visiting firemen in several locations, said 1,800 firefighters were mobilised to fight the blazes.
The fires have already destroyed some homes in the town of Vitrolles, 25km north of Marseille. About 400 policemen were also mobilised across the region, he said.
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The head of Madeira’s regional government Miguel Albuquerque has said officials suspect that the fire on the island was started deliberately.
