A large fire spreading rapidly on the outskirts of Marseille forced the city's airport to stop operating on Tuesday afternoon.
Planes had not taken off or landed since midday and some flights had been diverted to Nice or other regional airports, according to a Marseille airport spokesman.
The local fire service said 168 firefighters were on standby to extinguish a wind-driven fire that was burning an area of 350 hectares near the town of Les Pennes-Mirabeau, located northwest of Marseille.
"At this stage, populations must remain confined to inhabited areas," the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region wrote in X.
"Close your shutters, doors, keep your property clear for emergency services and do not travel on the roads," she added.
The municipality of Marseille also posted on X, asking people to "avoid all outdoor activities" and follow instructions and alert messages.
Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan warned residents on X-TV that the fire was now "on the doorstep of Marseille", urging residents in the north of the city to avoid travelling on the roads to clear the way for rescue services.
A spokeswoman for the mayor's office for Marseille's 15th and 16th arrondissements, which border the city of Les Pennes-Mirabeau, said the area on the city's outer limits was increasingly threatened by fire.
Residents said they have been asked to stay home, lock their doors and place a wet cloth in any openings, but have not yet received orders to evacuate.
Meanwhile, a large fire that started near the southwestern coastal town of Narbonne on Monday has destroyed about 2,000 hectares of land and continues to burn in the area.
Several European countries were on high alert for extreme heat and wildfires in May and June, as an early summer heatwave broke records and pushed temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius in places like Spain and Greece.
Wildfires continued to spread in northeastern Spain as of Tuesday evening, while fires on Greece's largest island, Crete, forced the evacuation of more than 1,500 people from homes and hotels last week. (D.W.)
(BalkanWeb)
