Wildfire loses intensity in southern France, firefighters continue battle
MARSEILLE - A wildfire that reached the northwestern outskirts of France's second city of Marseille lost intensity overnight, but firefighters were still battling the flames on Wednesday.
Residents who had been told on Tuesday to stay in their homes for their own safety were once again allowed out.
"With the fire in northern Marseille now clearly under control, we can announce this morning that the 16th arrondissement is no longer on lockdown," Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan said in a post on social media platform X.
"I call on all Marseille residents to exercise the utmost caution in the area, as emergency services are hard at work," he said.
Martine Vassal, head of the area council, said firefighters had worked through the night to control the fire, which she said remained a cause for concern.
"It is not finished. Weather conditions are worrying for us," Vassal told broadcaster BFM.
Local officials said the airport for France's second-largest city could close for commercial flights to prioritise air resources if the fire flared up again.
It was too soon for the hundreds of residents who had fled from the wildfire to return, officials said.
Hundreds of firefighters, aided by helicopters and aircraft, have been fighting the flames, which have been fanned by winds of up to 70 kph (43 mph) that brought plumes of smoke over the southern coastal city. Officials said the blaze was caused by a car that caught on fire.
The fire had burnt through 700 hectares (2.7 square miles) but no fatalities had been reported, regional prefect Georges-Francois Leclerc said late on Tuesday.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told reporters late on Tuesday that the fire had been fast-moving, affecting 60 houses and burning down 10.
The fire in Marseille and a separate one near Narbonne, another southern French city, were the first major fires of the summer, Sophie Primas, the government's spokesperson, said in an interview with RTL on Wednesday, adding that wildfire season had come early this year.
Climate change has made wildfires more destructive in Mediterranean countries in recent years.
This week and last week, fires have also raged in northeastern Spain, on the Greek island of Crete, and in Athens.
Philippe, a victim of the fires whose surname was not given, told BFM that he had slept poorly after evacuating and hoped to return to his home at noon on Wednesday.
"There is nothing we can do," he said. "It is very very, very hard." REUTERS
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
34 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Wildfire near Spanish capital under control as one person dies
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox People rest at a help center a day after they were evacuated from the Spanish town of Tarifa due to wildfires, in Zahara de los Atunes, Spain, August 12, 2025. REUTERS/Marcelo Del Pozo MADRID - Firefighters have contained a wildfire near the Spanish capital Madrid, in the Tres Cantos area, which killed one person and prompted the evacuation of 180 people, regional authorities said on Tuesday. Favourable overnight conditions allowed for the fire to be contained, the Community of Madrid said in a statement. A man who had been taken by helicopter to the La Paz hospital after suffering burns on 98% of his body, later died, the Community of Madrid said. The fire affected more than 1,000 hectares. A prolonged heatwave in Spain continued on Tuesday, with temperatures set to reach 44 degrees Celsius (111.2 F) in some regions, according to meteorology service AEMET. Scientists say the Mediterranean region's hotter, drier summers put it at a high risk of wildfires. Once fires start, dry vegetation and strong winds can cause them to spread rapidly and burn out of control, sometimes provoking fire whirls. REUTERS
Straits Times
8 hours ago
- Straits Times
Taiwan to evacuate hundreds as Typhoon Podul barrels towards south-east
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Authorities were also working to evacuate those whose homes were damaged by a July typhoon that brought record winds. TAIPEI - Authorities in Taiwan were scrambling on Aug 12 to evacuate hundreds ahead of a possible landfall by Typhoon Podul on the island's south-eastern coast, while nearby areas battle to recover from floods and record winds brought by previous storms. Taiwan is regularly hit by typhoons, generally along its mountainous, sparsely populated east coast facing the Pacific. The mid-strength Typhoon Podul, packing gusts of as much as 155kmh, was heading for the south-eastern city of Taitung as it intensifies and was expected to make landfall nearby on Aug 13 , weather officials said. In the eastern county of Hualien, nearly 700 people will be evacuated from their homes to guard against the risk of overflow from a natural dam formed after a landslide caused by a previous typhoon. 'We must especially urge people living downstream to follow government instructions and evacuate,' said Mr Chu Chung-jui, an official of the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction. 'Authorities are closely monitoring this landslide lake,' he told a Taipei briefing for the typhoon taskforce. After making landfall, the storm was expected to hit the densely populated western coast before heading for China's southern province of Fujian later this week. As much as 600mm of rain was forecast in southern mountainous areas over the next few days, the Central Weather Administration said. Authorities in the south were also working to evacuate those whose homes were damaged by a July typhoon that brought record winds and damaged the electricity grid in a rare direct hit to Taiwan's west coast. More than a year's rainfall fell in a single week this month in parts of southern Taiwan, setting off widespread landslides and flooding, with four deaths. REUTERS
Straits Times
15 hours ago
- Straits Times
Child dies in Italy as European heatwave sets records and sparks wildfires
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox LAS MEDULAS, Spain - A young boy died of heatstroke in Italy while wildfires threatened a Unesco site in Spain and French cities saw record temperatures, as a heatwave baked Europe on Aug 11. Many towns and cities in France, Italy and the Balkans were put on red alert due to the heat. Wildfires fanned by strong winds forced the evacuations of thousands of people throughout the continent and threatened popular tourist sites in Turkey and Spain. The four-year-old Romanian boy who died in Italy succumbed days after being found unconscious in his family's car on the island of Sardinia. The news came as Italy's health ministry issued a red alert warning for seven major cities, including Bologna and Florence. Some 11 Italian cities are on red alert for Aug 12, and 16 cities on Aug 13. Red alerts were also announced in southern France and on the Adriatic and Ionian coasts in the Balkans. 'The heatwave currently affecting France, Spain, and the Balkan countries is not surprising. It is driven by a persistent heat dome over Europe,' Dr Akshay Deoras, a research scientist at the meteorology department in Britain's University of Reading, told AFP. 'Heatwaves don't roar like storms – they creep in quietly, but can be just as deadly.' Unesco site damaged A blaze, which broke out on Aug 10, damaged a Unesco World Heritage-listed Roman-era mining site at Les Medulas in north-western Spain – famed for its striking red landscape – and prompted hundreds of residents to evacuate. High temperatures and winds of up to 40kph created 'many difficulties' for firefighters struggling to contain the wildfire, said Juan Carlos Suarez-Quinones, the Castile and Leon regional environment minister. 'We will not allow people to return until safety in their communities is absolutely guaranteed,' he told reporters, estimating that about 700 people had been displaced. Spain has been in the grip of a heatwave for the past week, with temperatures nearing 40C in many areas and fuelling wildfires. The Roman-era mining site of Las Medulas, in the municipality of Carucedo photographed on Sept 4, 2024 (left) and on Aug 11, 2025 after a wildfire ravaged the area. PHOTO: AFP In the southern tourist town of Tarifa, more than 2,000 people were evacuated, some from hotels and beaches, after a fire that had been subdued on Aug 8 flared up again, with more than 100 firefighters battling the flames. In neighbouring Portugal, firefighters were battling three large wildfires in the centre and north of the country, while Morocco is sending two aircraft to help fight the fires after two Portuguese planes broke down. In Italy, around 190 firefighters and the army were tackling a wildfire on Mount Vesuvius that caused the closure of the national park to tourists. 20 arrested in Albania People were evacuated from dozens of homes in the Balkans as firefighters battled blazes in Albania, Montenegro and Croatia, where red alerts were announced. In Albania, hundreds of firefighters and soldiers had subdued most of the nearly 40 fires that flared up in the last 24 hours, according to the defence ministry, but more than a dozen were still active. Since the start of July, nearly 34,000 ha have been scorched nationwide, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis). Police allege that many of the blazes were deliberately lit, with more than 20 people arrested in recent weeks. Just outside the capital of neighbouring Montenegro, where temperatures soared to 40 deg C, fire crews managed to save dozens of homes when a blaze broke out in inaccessible terrain on Aug 11. In Croatia, around 150 firefighters also spent the night defending homes from a blaze near the port city of Split. In the north-western Turkish province of Canakkale, more than 2,000 people were evacuated and 77 people received hospital treatment for smoke inhalation after several fires broke out around the tourist village of Guzelyali, authorities said. Several homes and cars caught ablaze, according to images shown on Turkish media, while more than 760 firefighters, 10 aeroplanes, nine helicopters and more than 200 vehicles were deployed to battle the flames. Turkey had just experienced its hottest July since records began 55 years ago. French records Temperature records were broken in at least four weather stations in southern France, as the government called for vigilance. The south-western city of Bordeaux hit a record 41.6 deg C while all-time records were also broken at meteorological stations in Bergerac, Cognac and Saint Girons, according to the national weather service, Meteo France. The heatwave, the country's second this summer , began on Aug 8 and was forecast to last possibly until Aug 19 or 20. On Aug 11, 12 French departments were placed on red alert, the country's highest heat warning, with four more expected on Aug 12. AFP
