The fire near Martigues is not yet contained, 350 firefighters are still involved.
The fire that has devoured nearly 250 hectares of pine forest since Thursday in Martigues, northwest of Marseille, is now contained, despite a reactivation on Friday afternoon, and 350 firefighters are still deployed, with significant aerial resources.
The fire is "contained" but it is not yet circumscribed or fixed, the prefecture explained early in the evening, in its latest situation report, specifying that the "reactivation" of the fire in the afternoon claimed 8 more hectares, bringing the total area affected to 248 hectares according to the latest situation report.
More than 350 firefighters remain engaged in this blaze, which at its peak mobilized more than 1,000 firefighters. Supported by 130 ground vehicles, they are also being aided by significant air resources—four Canadairs, a water-bombing helicopter, and a Dash aircraft—to drop retardant.
On Thursday, before nightfall, up to nine aircraft (seven Canadairs and two Dashes) and two water-bombing helicopters were deployed to fight the flames. "Never before has a fire mobilized so many resources" this year in the department, Bruno Cassette, the sub-prefect of the Aix-en-Provence district, emphasized at the time.
On Thursday evening, food trucks spontaneously arrived at the command post to supply emergency services. The city of Martigues actively sought them out on Facebook on Friday to thank them.
In terms of human toll, there were no casualties among the population on Friday evening; the only three firefighters with minor injuries were firefighters.
Mr. Cassette had announced early Friday morning the lifting of the lockdown imposed on residents of the area and in particular on people living in two hamlets of the commune, Saint-Julien and Les Ventrons. As for the material toll and in particular on homes, it is "very reassuring" , insisted the sub-prefect Friday morning, "only one outbuilding of a house having been damaged, as well as a farm" , while 120 in total were "threatened" .
The town of Martigues was previously hit by a violent fire on August 4, 2020, which swept through 1,000 hectares and completely destroyed two holiday villages. Evacuations were then carried out by sea.
This new fire is the second major one in just a few days around Marseille, following the July 8 fire, which started when a car burned on the side of the highway and covered 750 hectares between Les Pennes-Mirabeau and Marseille. It affected 91 buildings, 60 of which were destroyed or are now uninhabitable, mainly in the Marseille district of L'Estaque.
Arriving on the scene the same day, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau warned that, in the face of these very early fires, we were heading "towards a high-risk summer." Under the influence of climate change, these extreme weather events are expected to increase in frequency, scientists warn.
Furthermore, other fires were reported on Friday in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, including one in Bouc-Bel-Air where a blaze swept through 1.5 hectares of fields. In the neighboring Var department, a fire started Thursday following a problem with a heavy goods vehicle burned 30 hectares in Fréjus. On Friday, firefighters continued to extinguish hot spots, rekindled by temperatures that exceeded 30°C.
On the other side of France, in Brittany, the fire in the Brocéliande forest in Paimpont (Ille-et-Vilaine), which started Thursday afternoon, was declared under control early Friday morning by firefighters. The fire, whose origin is still unknown, burned 120 hectares of vegetation, and 390 firefighters and 130 vehicles were deployed to the area, supported by several water-bombing aircraft (two Air Tractors and one Dash).
"In Brocéliande, Martigues, Fréjus, wherever fires are currently raging, our firefighters are fighting," said President Emmanuel Macron on X: "They are protecting lives, our forests, our heritage. I express our gratitude and our support to them."
The World with AFP
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