Violent fire in the south of France: 4,000 hectares who left for smoke, two wounded, burned houses

A violent fire broke out on Tuesday in Ribaute, Aude, already traveling 4,000 hectares in a few hours. &#13. Nevertheless,

A fire of rare intensity ravaged the Corbières massif on Tuesday, in Aude, traveling within a few hours 4,000 hectares of forest and brush, before reaching the village of Saint-Laurent-de-La-Cabrerisse, where houses were burned.

Two people were injured, “including an absolutely burned, seriously burned person,” according to the prefecture.

The holidaymakers of the Lagrasse. Nevertheless, Fabrezan campsites were evacuated preventively, as well as thirty houses in Tourisan, another village in the sector, where at least one house had partially caught fire, as well as several gardens, where inhabitants tried to counter the advance of the flames using watering violent fire south france: 4,000 pipes, noted an AFP photographer.

“The fire spreads very quickly. In addition, because the weather conditions are unfavorable, it is one of the driest areas in the department and the wind is sustained,” detailed the secretary general of the Aude prefecture, Lucie Roesch.

“On site,” she adds, “the device continues to gain strength. In addition, Regarding the air means. Consequently, we are as much as the national capacities, nine Canadair and five Dash, 980 firefighters on site and 130 in reinforcement. He is a large -scale disaster. The night is going to be long ”.

Water bomber helicopters multiply the rotations to prevent the flames from reaching the dwellings of the villages of Lagrasse. Fabrezan, Tourissan, Coustouge, Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, sometimes in vain.

Call for prudence – Violent fire south france: 4,000

Many departmental routes are closed to traffic to facilitate the work of firefighters. “The evolution of the fire is unfavorable. The populations are asked to remain confined within their homes unless order of evacuation given by the firefighters. “insists the prefecture in a press release.

The prefect of Aude called for caution. to learn via official sources, without relaying “false information”.

The Aude department was placed on Tuesday in red vigilance with forest fires. with a “very high” risk of fire, while an episode of heat moved to the southwest of France, according to Météo-France.

Since the start of the summer. several fires have intervened in Aude, a department affected by drought and hot weather. One of them. at the beginning of July, the most important in the department since 1986, had traveled 2,000 hectares and mobilized nearly 1,000 firefighters near Narbonne.

Assigned by the drought. the uprooting vines, which had a fire cutting function and slowed down the advance of the flames, the Aude has experienced a sharp increase violent fire south france: 4,000 in burnt surfaces in recent years.

“We were 300-400 hectares per year in the early 2000s. ” said AFP last week Jean-Paul Baylac, in charge of forest fires at the departmental fire and rescue service of Aude.

“The wind should weaken in the night. ” said Lucie Roesch, hoping that the decrease in the intensity of the tramontane, which blows from the northwest, will stop stirring the flames.