Escape from inferno on the Riviera
Britons forced to abandon holiday homes in Med inferno
Holiday from hell: Tourists — many of them British — sleep on French Riviera beaches after being forced to flee by forest fires
‘It is a disaster area. There’s nothing left’
British holidaymakers told of their terror yesterday after fleeing for their lives as wildfires threatened upmarket resorts on the French riviera.
they joined more than 10,000 – including celebrities and royalty – who were forced from homes, hotels and campsites in the middle of the night.
they described pine trees ‘lit up like matches’ as the tinderbox forests at the back of the riviera went up in flames. One said the night sky of southern France was ‘like Dante’s inferno’. As the fires raged for a third day, leaving normally blue skies black with smoke, one local politician said: ‘it is a disaster area. there is nothing left.’
tourists were forced to sleep on beaches in makeshift camps. Anne Davies, from Cardiff, woke at a campsite in Bormes-les-Mimosas to discover the hills were ablaze.
‘We’ve been coming here for 34 years and i’ve never seen fires this big,’ said Mrs Davies, 74. ‘When i looked back the whole of the hillside was on fire. i was very frightened, particularly as i can’t run that fast any more. the beach was full of people fleeing from the fire and there must have been about 50 children in buggies with worried parents.’
Last night she, her 76-year-old husband John and friends David heslop, 81, and his wife Carolyn, 78, from sheffield, were spending their second night on the beach. Mr heslop said: ‘My biggest fear was the wind was going to change. the fire would have engulfed us. there must be 500 gas canisters and 500 petrol tanks in the campsite. it would have been carnage.’
John Grant, on holiday near Bormes-les-Mimosas, told the BBC the night sky was lit up ‘like Dante’s inferno’. ‘it was scary,’ he said. ‘this was certainly larger than anything we had seen previously.’
Ollie Marriage, 44, from Newbury, Berkshire, described ‘an explosion with masses of black smoke... like thousands of matches setting on fire, except the matches were trees’. he took his wife Penny, and children sasha, 13, and Luke, 12, to safety after the wildfire threatened their villa in Gigaro.
‘Within just two minutes the fires got completely out of control and were spreading fast,’ he said.
retired teacher ros roberts, 64, from Ludlow, shropshire, was with her husband Bruce in their caravan at Camp du Domaine. she said: ‘An alarm began to ring out, then cars came around with sirens and a tannoy telling everyone to move to the beach. We could see and smell the black smoke.’
Kim stone, 54, from Farnham, surrey, was staying with her sister Julie Winslet, 46, at a beachfront pitch near Camp du Domaine.
‘in the 45 years i’ve been coming here, i’ve never seen winds like it. We came out and saw the hills on fire and the sky lit up. if it wasn’t for those water planes we would have been in serious trouble.’
Diana and John Wardill, from Yorkshire, fled in their car after a blaze neared their home in sainttropez. ‘it was shocking. it happened so quickly,’ said Mrs Wardill, 70. ‘As soon as the flames touched an umbrella pine, it just crackled up. it was just like a tinderbox.’
Journalist Lisa Minot, who was at a forest campsite, said: ‘they evacuated everyone down to the beach and we have been here ever since. there are very strong winds... and this is what is hampering the efforts to fight the fire, because they really cannot predict where the flames are going to go next.’
Fatherland author robert harris was among those evacuated. he posted a series of pictures of fires near Cap Benat on twitter.
Dame Joan Collins, who had been forced to abandon her villa near saint-tropez late on Monday, said it was ‘a nightmare,’ while members of the Luxembourg royal family fled their summer home in Cabasson.
the fires have been blamed on lightning, barbecues and discarded cigarettes, although Bormes mayor Francois Arizzi said it was arson. More than 4,000 firemen have been battling the flames, helped by aircraft including water bombers. At least 12 firemen have been injured.