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MARSEILLE, France: A Foreign Legion drill instructor was suspended and taken into custody on Thursday after an "imbecilic" shooting exercise led to a huge wildfire that threatened the outskirts of Marseille.
No-one was killed as the blaze ripped through 1,300 hectares of brush and damaged homes in the suburbs of France's second city, but one fireman suffered burns and four rescuers were treated for smoke inhalation.
The fire erupted on Wednesday after troops from the 1st Foreign Legion Regiment used tracer rounds, which contain an incendiary substance to make them visible in flight, during a practice session at their base.
The blaze was contained by dawn on Thursday, but this did little to calm the anger of local officials, who noted this was the second time in as many years the army had started a wildfire.
Local prefect Michel Sappin, the French government's senior regional official and police chief, blasted the "imbecilic" actions of the military.
"It was the same thing last year near the camp in Canjuers. That was the biggest fire last summer," he said. Wednesday's fire, started at a camp in Carpiagne, was the worst to hit southern France in three years.
The officer who ordered the exercise - a 43-year-old from the island of Reunion - was taken into judicial custody after being suspended from his duties, according to a source close to the case.
Fresh back from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, he told investigators he was not informed that tracer rounds were viewed as a fire hazard in the region and was "devastated" by the damage he had caused, said the source.
Visiting the fire-ravaged area, Prime Minister Francois Fillon promised tough punishment for those responsible, and a review of French military rules on shooting exercises.
Fillon told reporters the use of tracer rounds was forbidden year-round in wildfire-prone southern France, except with special permission, and called the firing "a blatant and unforgiveable professional error."
"There will be sanctions against those who committed these serious mistakes," said Fillon, who instructed Defence Minister Herve Morin to put the military on stand-by to help with clean-up operations.
Philippe Pancarzi, head of Marseille's fire service, said the blaze had stopped spreading but was not yet fully under control on Thursday afternoon.
Thick smoke billowed out from the hills overlooking the eastern outskirts of Marseille as firefighters battled to stamp out the last of the flames.
With winds not forecast to weaken, "we are keeping all our assets on the scene," including nearly 500 firefighters - backed up by water dropping planes and helicopters - spread over eight kilometres, Pancarzi said.
Around 200 residents of a retirement home and a centre for the handicapped in La Panouse, south of the city, were evacuated early on Thursday, many still in their pyjamas and some in wheelchairs.
The fire moved down a hill outside the city and threatened the Trois-Ponts and La Barasse districts. Residents sprayed water on the outside of their homes before they moved out, with most returning throughout the day on Thursday.
Several homes were damaged, but none destroyed, apart from some hill cabins and a shepherd's hut.
"There is a lot of anger, because everyone here works hard all year to protect the environment," said one local woman, Elsa Chevalier, looking up at the charred hillside from outside her flat.
Separately on the island of Corsica, two villages near the southern city of Ajaccio were evacuated on Thursday after wildfires raced through 3,000 hectares of tinder-dry forest land.
Ten water-dropping planes were sent to help firefighters contain the blaze, which cut the main road between Ajaccio and Bastia, toppled telephone poles and filled the air with thick black smoke. - AFP/de
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