The Marine Firefighters of Marseilles – N°8 : Marseilles and the arsonists | Le Bataillon des Marins Pompiers de Marseille | RMC Découverte

“If you arrive on the scene and you’re not scared, you don’t realize the danger. In that case, you’re no longer safe.”

Marseille is surrounded by hills that form the city’s “Green Lung”. The south east of the city is a green zone. However, every summer, drought gets the upper hand and hits record highs. For several months now, this drought has been a threat to the lives of the city’s residents. Simple brush fires are a direct menace to the housing projects at the foot of the hills surrounding the city.

A common brush fire can very quickly develop into a giant city fire and then into a forest fire. In interventions of this type, the firefighters’ strategy for dousing the fire is based on HBEs: Helicopter Water Bombers. Using their capacity for surgical strikes, the fires are soon under control. But the enemy is elsewhere… The marine firefighters also have to deal with the budding arsonists in the projects, who, in high summer, turn traitor and put on end to their boredom with a cigarette lighter and a few strands of dry grass. Faced with such vandalism, the marine firefighters play the role of mediator.

From June to October, the Pointe Rouge firefighters are on permanent alert for accidents in the calanques. In summer there are many cases of jellyfish stings. They can cause the victim to pass out. But behind these “little bumps and bruises” more extreme cases may be lurking. That is why there are no minor emergencies for the Marseille marine firefighters’ brigade.