The Marine Firefighters of Marseilles – N°12 : trapped by fire | Le Bataillon des Marins Pompiers de Marseille | RMC Découverte

“The brigade’s training enables us to master our thoughts. We are constantly anticipating every scenario to avoid going into panic and, as a result, putting the victims and members of our team in danger.”

On July 15, an arsonist sets various locations alight on the “Blue Coast”, creating a number of fires. The Canadairs are deployed, but the Mistral comes into play and the fires encircle the town of Carry le Rouet and its residents. People take refuge on the beach and in the calanques.

Called out on an emergency, the crew of the “Bonne Mère” heads for Carry le Rouet to provide coordination for the rescue and evacuation operations for the people trapped by the fire. When the marine firefighters from Pointe Rouge arrive on the scene the decision has already been taken by Operational HQ to evacuate part of the population that has crowded onto the beaches and into the creeks.

Tourists and residents of Carry le Rouet are gradually transferred to Estaque, the 16^th arrondissement of Marseilles in the north of the city.

Although the majority of the 5,000 residents of Carry le Rouet just managed to get out by road at 7pm, 150 people are on the beaches, in the Rouet harbor and the calanques, waiting to be evacuated.

On the map, a member of the Pointe Rouge crew locates a calanque where the firefighters must go to the assistance of the last 13 evacuees from Carry le Rouet…

However, the lifeboat’s tender can only carry a maximum of 3 people…