Fires ravage southern France, Portugal, 4 dead, 1000s flee

Portugal has also been severly affected by wildfires, which have left 4 people dead and many injured in the country. “It’s progressing fast”, he said on BFM-TV.

French police stand at a roadblock as smoke fills the sky and blocks the sun as fires burn north of Marseille, France, August 10, 2016.

Five hundred firefighters have been deployed in the Pyrenees area, with reinforcements arriving from Spain.

According to The Daily Telegraph, the fire burned more than 8,000 acres of land near Marseille, destroying at least 25 homes and injuring three people.

At the port of Fos-sur-Mer, northwest of Marseille, 800 ha. went up in flames on Wednesday and caused fears for the safety of oil and chemical terminals.

The Marseille airport rerouted incoming flights to make way for firefighting aircraft, while officials in Marseille, France’s second-largest city, were bracing for flames that risked lapping at its doors, and the airport warned flights risk delays or cancellations Thursday. With winds still high, authorities said Thursday the danger was not over for some nearby French towns and highways in the area were closed.

“That means that it is not expanding any more there are no visible flames”, said Vice-Admiral Charles-Henri Garrier, commander of Marseille’s firefighter battalion, speaking near Vitrolles, just 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Marseille. Forest fires in Madeira forced the evacuation of more than 1,000 residents and tourists.

The fires had broken out on Monday on the island known as the “Pearl of the Atlantic”, where three people perished in their homes close to the historic centre of Funchal.

Civil protection official Rubina Leal said the mercury topped 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit), the hottest temperature there since 1976, while winds gusted to 90 kilometres an hour (55 mph).

His government released a statement Thursday assuring visitors that tourism facilities on the island – a popular vacation destination – were returning to normal, despite the fires still burning.

A first-division football match between Madeira club CD Nacional and Chaves, scheduled for the start of the Portuguese season on Sunday, was postponed because of damage to the stadium in Funchal, the club said.

In this photo taken late Tuesday, Aug. 9 2016, firefighters battle a fire that reached the old center of Funchal, the capital of Portugal’s Madeira island.

Portugal’s European Union partners have answered a request for assistance and an Italian air tanker will join two Spanish water bombers already deployed, while Morocco has also offered to contribute two additional planes.