The south-east of France is partly burned. The fire in the Aude, which spread between Narbonne and Carcassone at a spectacular speed of 5 kilometers per hour, ravaged more than 17,000 hectares of vegetation, more than the area of Paris.
This is the largest fire in the Mediterranean periphery for at least fifty years, with flames of more than 15 meters and fiery jumps of 200 to 500 meters, according to Christophe Magny, director of the Aude fire and rescue service. At least one dead is to be deplored. All conditions were met: dry soil, intense heat and sustained winds. Since Thursday, August 7, the fire is considered to be “fixed”, that is to say that it no longer progresses.
A context of increased fires
Aude’s extraordinary fire is not an epiphenomenon. It is part of a general context of a worrying increase in fires in France and Europe. From the beginning of July, early forest fires had declared themselves to the four corners of the continent: in Tarragona, Spain, Marseille and Narbonne, France, but also in the German Saxony region – particularly little watered by rain since the beginning of the year.
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