2,000 Evacuated as Fires Ravage Resorts on French Riviera; 1 Dead

Wildfires fed by strong winds ravaged the French Riviera on Friday, killing an elderly woman, charring resort homes and thousands of acres of forest and forcing the evacuations of 2,000 people.

Officials in Nice said the body of a 74-year-old woman was found in her home in the town of Eze, along the 15 miles of Mediterranean coast between Nice and the principality of Monaco where the worst fires erupted Thursday.

Officials said one person who was battling the fires 570 miles southeast of Paris suffered from smoke inhalation and severe burns. Several firefighters and other residents were slightly injured.

After an all-night battle, the officials said it appeared about 2,500 firefighters had brought the majority of fires under control, although smaller ones still posed problems.

The firefighters said they feared a new surge of a hot, westerly winds of up to 45 m.p.h. would spread the flames further eastward. Conditions were aggravated by hot, dry weather in the region during the past several weeks.

Arson Suspected

Firefighters said they believed arson was responsible for some of the blazes, which destroyed about 16,870 acres of forest land.

The fires wreaked havoc during the sunny Cote D’Azur’s peak tourist season, with thousands of Parisians in the area on summer vacations.

More fires raged through 15 miles of forest near Draguignan, about 40 miles west and inland of the coastal resort city of Cannes. The wind was blowing the flames eastward toward the French Alps.

Between 10 and 20 resort homes along the coast were destroyed, officials said.

Officials ordered the evacuation of more than 2,000 people, including 140 youngsters at a summer camp. Several hotels, campgrounds, vacation homes and a retirement home were ordered evacuated.

The firefighters, including soldiers and others from Paris and from towns in the region, battled the fires on foot and dumped water and chemical retardants from seven aircraft.

Some residents doused their homes with garden hoses in a bid to protect them from the flames licking tree-covered hillsides nearby.

One woman interviewed on French television stood before the smoking ruins of her home and mourned the loss.

“Everything is lost,” she cried. “I tried to save my necklace and my ring, but I couldn’t. Now there’s nothing left. Nothing at all.”