VIDEO – The murderous fire progresses in the Aude with nearly 16,000 hectares devoured by the flames. A sixty -something man died in his house, a person is missing and nine others are injured.
The most important fire of summer in France remains uncontrollable. In the Aude, the lights have traveled in 24 hours some 16,000 hectares and ravaged the Corbières massif. A colossal device is set up to try to end it: 1900 firefighters and their 500 vehicles are mobilized. A sixty -something man was found dead in his house, a person is missing and nine others were injured.
An investigation was opened to determine the causes of this gigantic fire, the Carcassonne prosecutor’s office said in the early afternoon. Since its outbreak, for a reason still indeterminate, shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday August 5 in Ribaute, the fire impacted fifteen municipalities and destroyed or damaged 25 homes, as well as 35 vehicles, according to a still provisional assessment.
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On the videos filmed by the fire brigades, the plumes of smoke transformed the landscape. The flames with red and purplish shades surround the roads and seem to be pushed by a powerful wind.
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Fire in the Aude: an open investigation to determine the causes of the start of the lights
A situation always unfavorable
Traffic resumed around 4 p.m. on the A9 motorway, the main road axis between France and Spain, after being interrupted on Tuesday evening, the Aude prefecture announced. “The change of wind direction (…) allows us to reopen the highway”the Aude Rémi Recio sub-prefect told AFP. On the A61, the Lézignan exchanger is still closed, according to the Traffic Info site of the Aude department. Several departmental roads crossing the area affected by the fire are indicated as being “Impracticables”.
«The fire is always very active and the situation is always unfavorable“Due to drought, heat and”strong and dense wind“Said the secretary general of the Aude prefecture, Lucie Roesch.
