Story highlights Calais officials say camp will be bulldozed Wednesday night

More than 4,000 migrants moved out of settlement

Calais, France (CNN) Migrants torched dozens of makeshift shelters in "The Jungle" refugee camp in France on Wednesday, sending raging fires through the heart of the settlement that firefighters were struggling to extinguish.

Firefighters struggle to control the dozens of fires tearing through the camp.

A single fire was lit in the early hours of the morning, but by 11 a.m. local time, dozens of tents and shacks were ablaze -- a suffocating blanket of black smoke over the camp.

The fires followed several nights of clashes this week between police and migrants who refused to leave the camp, as French authorities began busing residents out by the thousands and demolition teams started tearing the camp down.

"We had anticipated this by pre-positioning firefighters as part of this operation and also passed the message to migrants and community representatives not to set fire to the shelters," a Calais prefecture spokesperson said.

"The cleaning company will today continue the removal of empty shelters to limit the risk of further fires."

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