French Fires Kill 5, Injure 200; Arsonists, High Winds Blamed

Wind-fanned fires on the parched hills above the Cote d’Azur killed five people, injured hundreds and continued to blaze out of control Monday, authorities said.

Five hundred soldiers and two military helicopters were added to the ranks of firefighters and rescue personnel, bringing the total force to 5,000, according to civil security officials in Paris.

The fires began Saturday and have been fueled by the seasonal Mediterranean winds. Some of the fires are believed to be the work of arsonists, and a West German youth has been arrested on charges of lighting a fire by a highway near the town of Carnoules.

Firefighter, Couple Killed

A 20-year-old firefighter died Monday of asphyxiation while battling the largest remaining blaze, east of Aix-en-Provence, officials said. A 74-year-old man, burned over 50% of his body, also died Monday at a Toulon military hospital. His wife died Sunday as their home in Luceram, north of Nice, was consumed by flames.

On Saturday, a retired post office worker suffered a fatal heart attack trying to protect his home in Tanneron. A farmer in the Bouches du Rhone region also died of a heart attack Sunday while fleeing the fire.

Five people are in serious condition with burns, and about 200 others were treated after being overcome by smoke or heat, according to the prefecture at Nice.

24,700 Acres Destroyed

More than 24,700 acres have been ravaged, and the villages of Auribeau and Pegomas were 80% destroyed, emergency officials said. They said hundreds of homes have been destroyed and that more than 2,000 people have been evacuated from towns, camping grounds and a psychiatric ward of Grasse Hospital.

Security Minister Robert Pandraud surveyed the ravaged region by air Sunday, then ordered the use of federal emergency resources.

“It’s been like ‘Apocalypse Now,’ ” firefighter Jacques Ellena told a reporter. “The flames as high as buildings leap out above our heads. With the wind whirling, we’ve had to be everywhere at the same time.”

The weekend fires brought to 81,540 acres the amount of land destroyed by flames since the beginning of the summer, said Col. Marc Egoloff, commander of the Inter-Regional Center of Operational Coordination of Civil Security.

Egoloff said the destruction is partially the result of what he termed southeastern France’s worst drought in 30 years.