MARSEILLE, July 9 — A wildfire in southern France yesterday that forced Marseille airport to close and interrupted train traffic has not been fully contained, the country’s interior minister said.

Several forest fires have raged in recent days in southern France, fanning out at speed due to wind and parched vegetation after a heatwave, including yesterday’s just north of France’s second largest city, Marseille.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, during a visit to firefighters in the region, said the fire could be contained overnight if winds weaken, as expected.

Scientists say human-induced climate change is increasing the intensity, length and frequency of extreme heat that fuels forest fires.

The fire started in a vehicle in the area of Pennes-Mirabeau to the north of Marseille, on the road to the airport, roaring across 700 hectares (1,730 acres) by the evening, firefighters said.

It sent plumes of acrid smoke billowing into the sky, causing the airport to close its runways shortly after midday (1000 GMT), a spokesman for the Marseille Provence airport said.

The spokesman later said that the airport would partially reopen at around 9:30 pm and that 54 flights had been cancelled and another 14 redirected.

The website of the SNCF national rail operator showed more than a dozen train trips had been cancelled in and out of the city.

It said rail travel to and from Marseille would remain “highly affected” on Wednesday.

Retailleau said 400 people have been evacuated and 63 houses damaged, with some dozen destroyed. He said about 100 people have suffered light injuries, including from emergency services.

“At the moment that I speak to you there are no deaths, which is remarkable given the extent of the fires,” he said. “But there are all the reasons to think we are headed towards a summer of high risk.”

Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan on X warned residents the fire was now “at the doors of Marseille”, urging inhabitants in the north of the city to refrain from taking to the roads to leave way for rescue services.

The mayor of Pennes-Mirabeau said two housing estates had been evacuated and firefighters had positioned themselves outside a retirement home to fight off approaching flames.

The Marseille Provence airport is the country’s fourth after Charles-de-Gaulle and Orly outside Paris, and Nice.

‘Never seen anything like it’

The fire near Marseille is just the latest to hit France in recent days.

To the west along the Mediterranean coast, near the city of Narbonne, more than 1,000 firefighters from around the country were seeking to contain another blaze.

It had crept across 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of trees since starting on the property of a winery on Monday afternoon, emergency services said.

In the village of Prat-de-Cest on Tuesday morning, trees were blackened or still on fire.

As she watched fire trucks drive to and fro, retiree Martine Bou recounted fleeing her home with her cats, tortoises and dog on Monday afternoon before returning.

But her husband, Frederic, stayed all night to hose down the great pines on the other side of the road so the fire would not engulf their home.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. I have never lived next to such an enormous fire,” he told AFP, reporting flames dozens of metres (more than a hundred feet) high.

The fire near Narbonne caused authorities to close the A9 motorway to Spain, but on Tuesday morning they said they were progressively reopening it to traffic. — AFP

CASABLANCA, July 9 — Lhoussaine Youabd knows nearly all the languages spoken in Morocco, a useful skill in his role warning the population of growing climate-related risks in the country braving increasingly common heatwaves.

“Every time a weather alert is issued, I go on the media to warn Moroccans,” Youabd, 52, a meteorological engineer at the national weather service, told AFP.

This has been his mission for the past decade, going on TV and radio stations to get the message across to as many Moroccans as possible, particularly in remote rural areas.

Youabd said villagers are “happy that we speak their language” — dialects of colloquial Arabic or those used by the Amazigh — when issuing updates, warnings and recommendations that could be life-saving.

The General Directorate of Meteorology (DGM) has recently declared 2024 Morocco’s hottest year on record while registering an average rainfall deficit of -24.7 per cent, on the North African country’s seventh straight year of drought.

In late June this year, as a deadly heatwave affected large areas of southern Europe — across the Mediterranean from Morocco — the DGM said several cities broke their temperature records for that month.

Displaying a weather forecast map mostly shaded in intense red, Meriem Alaouri, the interim head of the national weather service in Casablanca, said that the upcoming summer months are expected to be even hotter than usual.

Scientists say that recurring heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming and that they are set to become more frequent, longer and more intense.

Fuelled by human-driven climate change, 2024 was the warmest year on record globally — and 2025 is projected to rank among the top three.

When extreme weather events hit, like heatwaves, storms or floods, Moroccan authorities issue colour-coded warning bulletins that are transmitted by the civil defence and media outlets.

Youabd said that in recent years, text messages are also used to alert local officials across the country, who can then notify residents in their area.

The DGM has also expanded its social media presence, using networks like Facebook and LinkedIn to get the message across, and a “Smart Alert” that would land directly in Moroccans’ mobile phones is currently being developed, he said.

No power

Hicham Fenniri, director of the International Water Research Institute at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, said it was important to ensure local, regional and national leaders and decision-makers are well informed about climate risks.

In remote areas, connecting residents to the electricity grid is crucial to make sure they can “access information” and install air conditioning systems, he said.

Traditional houses “but remade using clean science and technology” can help reduce some effects of the intense heat, along with ensuring access to potable water to mitigate dehydration risks.

In 2024, authorities said that 5.4 percent of Moroccans living in rural areas did not have access to electricity, and 20.4 percent had no reliable source of clean water.

Ben Achir Chekroun, a 66-year-old pensioner from Harhoura, south of the capital Rabat, said that the weather alerts were easy to follow.

“We get the information either from the radio, on online media and in newspapers,” he told AFP.

Loubna Rouhi, head physician at the local medical centre in Harhoura, said that in the scorching heat, it was recommended to stay in the shade and avoid going outside during the hottest hours, between 10 am and 4 pm, as well as wearing light clothes and staying hydrated.

The 48-year-old doctor said that she has used health ministry notices to help inform the population about the risks of extreme heat.

One recent campaign launched by the ministry aims to warn against scorpions and snakes, which are far more active in the heat.

Mohammed Esmaili, a senior health ministry official, said that a specialised medical kit has “helped significantly reduce mortality” linked to scorpion or snake bites, from 7.2 per cent of cases in 2013 down to 1.2 per cent. — AFP

MARSEILLE: A wildfire raging near Marseille on Tuesday forced the shutdown of the city’s airport, disrupted rail services, and damaged dozens of homes, with authorities warning of a high-risk summer ahead. The blaze, fueled by strong winds and dry vegetation following a heatwave, remains uncontained, according to Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau.

The fire began near Pennes-Mirabeau, north of Marseille, and rapidly spread across 700 hectares, sending thick smoke into the sky. Marseille Provence Airport suspended operations at midday, cancelling 54 flights and diverting 14 others before a partial reopening in the evening. The SNCF rail operator reported multiple cancellations, with services expected to remain disrupted on Wednesday.

Retailleau confirmed 400 evacuations, 63 damaged homes, and around 100 minor injuries, praising emergency efforts for preventing fatalities. “At the moment, there are no deaths, which is remarkable given the extent of the fires,“ he said. Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan warned residents the flames were “at the doors of Marseille,“ urging those in northern areas to avoid roads for rescue access.

Scientists attribute the fire’s intensity to climate change, which prolongs heatwaves and dries landscapes. Similar blazes near Narbonne have consumed 2,000 hectares, with over 1,000 firefighters deployed. The A9 motorway to Spain, initially closed, gradually reopened.