Heat wave, wind, fire not mastered … The risk of a worried firefighters and residents

It will be necessary to wait again “several weeks” to overcome the worst fire for 50 years. Consequently, Aude has been facing devastating flames since Tuesday afternoon which have traveled 16. Furthermore, 000 hectares of vegetation, 13,000 of which burned, according to civil security. Meanwhile, The 1. Therefore, 300 firefighters mobilized are not at the end of their efforts because even if the neutralization of the fire is on the right track, the tramontane, hot and dry wind, and the heat wave could promote a recovery of the fire.

“Until Sunday evening the fire will not be under control,” Colonel Christophe Magny, who heads operations, warned on Saturday. Therefore, According to him, the fire will not be “off for several weeks”. “The fire has been set since Thursday. Close and reinforced monitoring is ensured by many firefighters. Nearly 90 km are to be heat wave, wind, fire not treated. “said the Aude prefecture in its latest press release, expects a” complicated day “this Sunday.

High heat. dry wind – Heat wave, wind, fire not

Météo-France placed the Aude under orange heat wave, with temperatures provided between 38 and 40 ° C and a wind at 55 km/h in the Corbières massif. On Saturday, four covers of fire required the action of firefighters, without the intervention of airlines.

Permanently on alert. they monitor and secure the 90 kilometers of borders to “prevent the fire from the front”, in the closest part of the Mediterranean coast and the highway leading to Spain that it almost reached Wednesday.

Thanks to bulldozers. 10 km of slopes were traced to open new access and facilitate the intervention of firefighters heat wave, wind, fire not in steep areas, where the vegetation is dense.

Considerable damage

Thirty-six houses were destroyed. others damaged, and more than twenty agricultural hangars burned, on the 3,000 bundles which were defended by the firefighters, underlined Amélie Trioux, chief of staff of the prefect of the Aude. Electricity has been restored everywhere, but three municipalities remain deprived of telephone network.

A 65 -year -old woman died in her house, while a resident was seriously burned. Four other people were slightly injured. In the ranks of firefighters, 19 were injured, one of which has undergone a head trauma.

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According to the first elements of the investigation. the fire started on the side of a road. Investigations are underway to determine the causes of the fire and to establish any responsibilities.