A wildfire that reached the outskirts of Marseille, France's second-largest city, injuring 110 people, was pushed back overnight but remains unextinguished, authorities confirmed on Wednesday. Mayor Benoit Payan has since lifted a confinement order affecting tens of thousands of residents.
Speaking on broadcaster France-Info, Mayor Payan stated the blaze was in "net regression" on Wednesday morning. The fire had raced towards the historic Mediterranean port city on Tuesday, prompting hundreds of evacuations and forcing an entire city district to shelter indoors under official directives.
Spurred by hot summer winds, the fire grounded all flights to and from Marseille and halted train traffic in most of the surrounding area on Tuesday. Train, road and plane traffic remained complicated on Wednesday.
The mayor said 110 people were treated for smoke inhalation and related injuries.
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.
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."
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