Wildfires that raged across southern France on Wednesday left behind a trail of ravaged forest, scrubland and buildings.

Local resident Jerome Massolini, who said a fire began just 200 metres from where he lives in La Londe-les-Maures, saw both his home and car parking/ caravan repair business destroyed.

“I went to bed with my wife and when we switched the light off, I turned and I saw light around the shutters. So I wondered, I asked my wife, ‘did you leave the light on?’ She answered, ‘No, I did not leave the light on.’ So I got up, opened the shutters and saw the flames in the cypress trees over there.”

“It took us 30 seconds to out of bed, get the little girl out of her bed, take our two dogs, get in the car. And when we got out, the firefighters were already in front of the gate. So I think 10 minutes had already passed before the fire started,” Massolini told Reuters.

French Police officers were at the site investigating the cause of the fire.

The blaze was the latest of several wind-whipped fires that are destroying the hills and slopes that spill into the Mediterranean Sea between the Marseilles and the city of Nice in the southeastern corner of France.

“I can’t fathom another explanation than a criminal one. Now, as always, the person won’t be caught. I don’t think I am wrong in saying this. Well, they are just the worst type of criminals,” said Massolini.