Some 500 hectares of vegetation were covered on Monday by a major fire which broke out about fifty kilometers west of Marseille.
At the beginning of the evening, around 8 p.m., the incident, fueled by a strong wind, was still active.
Some 1,300 firefighters – Bouches-du-Rhône firefighters, but also from other departments, and marine firefighters from Marseille – were still fighting the disaster. The latter was triggered around 2:05 p.m. Istres, before affecting three other municipalities, Saint-Miter-les-Remparts, Port-de-Bouc and Martigues.
Six firefighters were slightly injured or inconvenienced in the operations, like two other people, including a pregnant woman.
Two families evacuated
As the fire sometimes passed near urbanized areas, firefighters had to deploy to secure homes and facilities.
Two families were preventively evacuated because the fire threatened their house.
The residents of a retirement home were thus confined as a precaution. Gyms have been opened to accommodate evacuees in Istres, Martigues and Port-de-Bouc.
“Fire risk” since the weekend
The wind was blowing in the afternoon gusting up to 70 kilometers per hour but was to weaken during the night before falling on Tuesday, according to the firefighters.
All 24 Bouches-du-Rhône massifs have been placed at “very high fire risk” since this weekend because of the heat and wind, which means in particular a ban on access for the public.
On the night of August 4 to 5, a fire devastated more than 1,000 hectares in a very touristy area of Martigues, in the Bouches-du-Rhône, which required the evacuation, including by sea, of several hundred of people.
–
