Marseille residents told to stay inside as wildfire threatens city

A fast-moving wildfire fanned by gale-force winds was raging on the outskirts of France's second-largest city, Marseille, officials said yesterday, as firefighters around the Mediterranean battled blazes sparked by an intense heatwave.

- Jon Henley Paris Sam Jones Madrid

"The fire is on the fringes of Marseille," the regional prefect, Georges-François Leclerc, told reporters, adding that the blaze was not yet contained, but the situation appeared to be under control.

"The instructions are simple: have confidence in firefighters, let emergency services do their job, and stay indoors," he said. "Firefighters are defending the city."

France's interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, was due to arrive in the city during the evening.

Fanned by a 40mph Mistral wind, with gusts reaching 60mph, the fire filled downtown Marseille with acrid smoke and flying cinders, and videos from the central Old Port area showed large plumes of smoke billowing over the city. About 450 people were evacuated, officials said.

Marseille city hall urged residents, especially in the northern 15th and 16th arrondissements, closest to the blaze, to "stay inside so as to avoid any exposure to smoke" from the fire. Four sports halls in the city were opened to accommodate evacuees.

"You can feel it, you can see it and you can smell it," Vanessa, a resident of the 16th arrondissement, told BFM-TV. "It's horrific. We're all frightened. It's a catastrophe. You can't even put your nose outside the front door - in Marseille!"