Fires in French Riviera nearly out

SAINTE-MAXIME, France -- Firefighters worked Thursday to extinguish the last of three fires that swept through the French Riviera while investigators tracked suspected arsonists.

The national weather service predicted strong winds that risked fanning the flames later in the day, adding urgency to firefighting efforts.

"We'll know by tonight if we've won or not," said Col. Christian Favre of the regional Var fire brigade. "Everything is going to play out in the next few hours."

A fire in the Marseille region to the west was brought under control Wednesday night after it burned across 1,235 acres and injured 19 firefighters, two with serious burns.

Four foreign tourists -- two British citizens, one Dutch citizen and one Polish citizen -- were killed in fires that started Monday and burned nearly 25,000 acres of pine forest. Authorities found three Molotov cocktails at the site of one Riviera blaze and searched the region for clues and suspects.

Airplanes zoomed over the area dumping water on the flames. Greece and Spain each contributed two special aircraft to the fight, officials said.

The fires left a swath of blackened moonscape across the craggy, brush-covered hills in the tourist-rich area of the Mediterranean coast.

"We've got it more or less under control," Favre said. "We're hoping to master it before the winds kick up."