Southern France is gripped by a series of unusually violent and early wildfires that have already ravaged 1,500 hectares of vegetation. Authorities have mobilized thousands of firefighters to combat the blazes, which have forced the evacuation of campsites, engulfed a marina, and led to the closure of highways. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu traveled to Marseille on Thursday to chair an interministerial crisis cell, while Interior Minister Laurent Nunez is traveling to Aude on Friday, where a fire has been raging for two days.