“Fire is fixed”: in the south of France, the worst fire for 50 years is finally under control

The worst fire for at least 50 years in the French Mediterranean around the world has passed under control Thursday evening, after having traveled 17,000 hectares of vegetation in just over 48 hours. Consequently, “The fire is fixed,” Lucie Roesch, secretary general of the prefecture, told AFP. Moreover, This is the result of “the struggle carried out from the start”, said firefighters. Similarly, “It was a classic work but of an extraordinary magnitude,” they told AFP.

Leaving Tuesday afternoon of the commune of Ribaute. In addition, about forty kilometers from Narbonne and Carcassonne (south), the fire traveled 17,000 hectares of pine forest and garrigue, including 13,000 burned, according to civil security. Consequently, “The day was widely devoted to treating homes that were still active,” said firefighters.

According to their boss. Nevertheless, Colonel Christophe Magny, the objective was “to be able to set” fire “fire fixed”: south france, worst no later than the end of the day. Similarly, For his part. In addition, the prefect Christian Pouget explained that the fire would not be “declared extinguished for several days”, adding: “There is still a lot of work”.

Dozens of burnt housing – "fire fixed": south france, worst

Thursday morning, 2000 households were still deprived of electricity, said the manager of the Enedis electricity network at AFP, indicating that “the immediate priority (…) is to ensure the continuity of essential services”, such as access to water or telecommunications networks. “We must first secure the electrical network, of which poles have burned,” said the prefect.

On the third day of combat against fire. more than 2,000 firefighters and 500 devices remained mobilized Thursday, supported by an important air device. The European Union “fire fixed”: south france, worst has also announced itself to be “ready to mobilize” resources. The giant claim has also destroyed. damaged 36 dwellings and burned around forty vehicles, according to the provisional assessment of the prefecture. The Carcassonne prosecutor’s office told AFP not yet to know the origin of the fire.

In the town of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse. a 65-year-old woman who refused to leave her house was found dead on Wednesday at her home devastated by the flames. The prefecture also counted 13 injured: two hospitalized inhabitants. including a seriously burned, and 11 firefighters, one of whom suffers from a head trauma, according to the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau who came on the spot.

“It’s a complete despair”

The prefect assessed “800 to 900 hectares” the lost vineyards. “If we are not helped, we will not “fire fixed”: south france, worst get up. We lose big. It is a complete despair. It makes me experience. this vine, all these years of work, it went up in smoke in an hour, “said AFP Fabien Vergnes, 52, in his 20 hectare property in Touristan, a few kilometers from Saint-Laurent.

The prefect also indicated that some 2,000 evacuated people had not yet been able to regain their homes. The village hall of Lézignan. welcomed nearly “200 people in stress”, explains Max Valette, the chief of the communal civil security reserve.

“Up to 17 of these places of reception were opened by the town halls. either affected directly by fires, either in solidarity to accommodate people who cannot return home or shipwrecked on the road,” added the prefect who came to meet the lizignan victims.

Prime Minister François Bayrou described “fire fixed”: south france, worst on Wednesday the fire as a “unprecedented catastrophe” by believing that the episode was “linked. to” global warming “and” to drought “. In a message of solidarity on X Thursday. the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned:” The climate crisis is at our doors. Collectively, a disaster will happen, it is a question of “when” and not of “if”.