As a precaution, a campsite and the Fontfroide abbey were evacuated, the Director of Cabinet of the Aude prefect, Amélie Trioux, said that fifty people were then at the campsite and 37 at the Abbey.
It was the sparks of the badly loose brake of a trailer wheel that caused these fire starts, added Ms. Trioux, recalling the safety instructions in this context of orange heat wave and very high risk of forest fire in the department.
Heat dome, ozone peaks, risk of violent thunderstorms, temperature records: Belgium is preparing for a scorching summer: “a complex cocktail”
More than 150 fire soldiers were deployed on the ground, helped by around forty trucks, three Canadair and two surveillance helicopters, according to the prefecture.
The risk of fire is very high in the Aude, due to the scorching temperatures coupled with the drought of the brush that prompted significant rains in the spring.
“84 Departments in orange heat wave, it’s unheard of”
“Eighty-four departments in orange heat wave” as well as what is planned by Météo-France for Monday, “it’s unheard of,” said AFP on Sunday evening, the Minister of Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, upstream of the interministerial crisis committee.
The previous record for the number of departments placed in orange heat wave, the second largest level existing, dated from July 23, 2019 with 81 departments (80 for the heat wave, 1 for thunderstorms) in orange, said the minister. France has been undergoing a heat wave since June 19, with temperatures around 40 degrees in the south this weekend, which will still intensify in the coming days.
