Photos: ‘apocalyptic scenes’ as wildfire burns outskirts of Marseille

A wildfire on the outskirts of Marseille continues to cause mass disruption today, as more than 1,000 firefighters tackle the blaze. 

Around 150,000 inhabitants of the city’s 16th arrondissement were asked to remain indoors from 16:00 yesterday (July 8), as the fire that began north of Marseille spread rapidly southwards. 

The confinement was lifted this morning around 07:00.

Close to 100 people were injured by the blaze, including several firefighters and police officers at the scene, and 24 people have been hospitalised. 

Hundreds of homes in areas north of Marseille, close to the site of the blaze, have been destroyed

Several flights to and from Marseille-Provence airport remain impacted, with some being cancelled. 

The airport was fully closed yesterday afternoon, grounding all flights until 21:30. 

Heavy traffic around the city continues, with the A7 in particular facing jams. The A55 is closed this morning, as are the Vieux-Port and Prado tunnels.

High-speed train services via the city were disrupted yesterday due to the fire. However, they are running as normal this morning. Local services are heavily disrupted.

The fire is still active, but has ‘regressed’ overnight, said city mayor Benoît Payan to media outlet BFMTV. 

However, the president of the city’s metropolitan area (shared with Aix-en-Provence) Martine Vassal said the fire is not yet under control, and the weather conditions were ‘worrying’ and could prolong efforts to put out the blaze. 

A fire in the Aude department that began on Monday is still ongoing, but firefighters have prevented it from spreading further. At least 2,000 hectares of land have been destroyed. 

Elsewhere in the south, fires in the Hérault department were put out last night after burning around 400 hectares of land. 

Photos of apocalyptic scenes

At its peak, the blaze in Marseille spread nearly a mile per minute, as strong winds and dry vegetation provided easy opportunities for the fire to expand. 

It began yesterday after an accident on the A55, when flames from a burning car spread onto vegetation. 

The flames quickly spread and were pushed by the Mistral winds to surrounding areas.

Around 700 hectares have been destroyed. 

Nine aircraft, including four water helicopters, are being used to fight the fire. 

The Connexion reader Mei Yee Lam was at Marseille Saint Charles station soon after the fire started. 

"Smoke covered entire streets," she said. The smoke was carried by the strong winds, but "people were having lunch outside... and were not panicking." Some photos of taken by her can be seen below.

She was travelling via bus to her home north of Aix-en-Provence, and during the journey saw "several fire engines rushing along... and ambulances weaving in an out of traffic," to race to the scene. 

Today, planes have been flying over her home to water nearby areas to prevent more fires breaking out.

Residents in communes to the north of the city, close to the blaze, fled their homes as the fires spread.

People moved vehicles out of the fire’s way in fear that they might explode, but were unable to prevent homes from going up in flames. 

“Unfortunately, we have a neighbour who lost his house across the street with all his vehicles inside. So we left everything open so that the firefighters could access the water and the swimming pool, and then we evacuated what we could,” one resident said to FranceInfo. 

One resident of Pennes-Mirabeau, where the fire originated, called the scenes ‘apocalyptic’. 

Some photos of the fire can be seen below.