A wildfire raging in southern France on Tuesday, which led to the closure of Marseille airport and disrupted train services, has not yet been fully contained, according to the country’s interior minister.
Several forest fires have ignited in recent days across southern France, spreading rapidly due to strong winds and dry vegetation exacerbated by a recent heatwave. The Tuesday fire occurred just north of Marseille, France’s second-largest city.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, during a visit to firefighters in the region on Tuesday evening, expressed hope that the fire could be contained overnight if winds, as predicted, weaken. Scientists indicate that human-induced climate change is increasing the intensity, duration, and frequency of extreme heat events that fuel such wildfires.
The blaze originated in a vehicle in the Pennes-Mirabeau area, north of Marseille, on the road to the airport. By evening, it had scorched 700 hectares (1,730 acres), firefighters reported. The fire sent plumes of acrid smoke into the sky, prompting the Marseille Provence airport to close its runways shortly after midday (1000 GMT), an airport spokesman confirmed. The spokesman later announced a partial reopening of the airport around 9:30 pm, with 54 flights cancelled and another 14 redirected.
The website of the SNCF national rail operator showed over a dozen train trips to and from Marseille had been cancelled, and it warned that rail travel would remain “highly affected” on Wednesday.
Retailleau stated that 400 people had been evacuated and 63 houses damaged, with about a dozen completely destroyed. Approximately 100 people suffered light injuries, including emergency service personnel. “At the moment that I speak to you there are no deaths, which is remarkable given the extent of the fires,” he said, adding, “But there are all the reasons to think we are headed towards a summer of high risk.”
Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan warned residents on X that the fire was now “at the doors of Marseille,” urging inhabitants in the northern parts of the city to avoid taking to the roads to allow rescue services clear passage. The mayor of Pennes-Mirabeau reported that two housing estates had been evacuated and firefighters were positioned outside a retirement home to protect it from approaching flames.
Marseille Provence airport is France’s fourth busiest, after Charles-de-Gaulle and Orly near Paris, and Nice.
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