A wildfire that broke out around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday on the coastal heights of Le Rove, about 15 km north-west of Marseille, has scorched more than 100 hectares of scrub and pine forest, according to local authorities. Roughly 350 firefighters and marine-firefighters, backed by two Canadair water-bombers and two helicopters, were mobilised to contain the blaze in steep, difficult-to-access terrain. The operation prompted the preventive evacuation of 150 residents to the nearby Port de la Vesse; no injuries have been reported and all dwellings were protected. By mid-morning the fire was declared circumscribed and the situation described as "stabilised", though crews remained on site to secure inaccessible edges amid continuing high temperatures and an expected rise in wind. The Bouches-du-Rhône department has been under an orange heat-wave alert since 27 June, and investigators will examine the origin of what officials call the first large-scale wildfire of the season.