Two fires are in progress Tuesday evening August 4 in Martigues and Port-de-Bouc, west of Marseille near the industrial-port zone of Marseille-Fos, causing the closure of a portion of the A55 motorway, AFP learned from the firefighters.
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The fire which started at the end of the afternoon in Port-de-Bouc had burned 90 hectares at 6.30 pm, “ in peri-urban environment ”, according to the firefighters of Bouches-du-Rhône. Another fire broke out in Martigues, a few kilometers away. At 6.30 pm, according to the firefighters " it is in full evolution, in the middle of the mountain ".
More than 600 firefighters were deployed Tuesday evening and awaited air reinforcements from Canadairs and Dash water bombers, in order to protect homes but also industrial sites nearby, in the Berre pond area. Since the weekend, access to all the forest areas of Bouches-du-Rhône has been prohibited due to strong winds and high temperatures which increase the risk of fires.
