2024-08-24 19:37:38
A large fire has occurred in Pyrénées-Orientales on Saturday, causing the evacuation of a nearby station and buildings, as a precaution, while the department has been placed on red alert for the risk of forest fires, authorities said. A vegetation fire broke out in the afternoon, between the villages of Villelongue-dels-Monts and Saint-Génis, in the south of Pyrénées-Orientales, threatening the areas where we live.
“Efforts are currently focused on the protection of several sensitive sites in the situation of the fire, including a camp in the town of Saint-Génis and a housing company with several buildings,” the firefighters indicated in a publication. “The protection system of the city has been activated” in two areas, causing the intervention of residents and vacationers, directed to the city centers.
The fire that occurred at 5: 16 pm “due to a southerly wind close to 60 km / h”, and has burned around ten hectares in the space of an hour, according to firefighters. By the end of the day, the fire, which is still ongoing, gathered a crew of 340 firefighters, seven Canadairs, two helicopters and two bomber planes.
“The President of the Pyrénées-Orientales takes charge of the relief operations” and “a COD (corporate operations center) has been opened in order to coordinate the actions of the different actors who are on the ground,” the area information. The department, hit by drought, was placed on a red alert for the risk of forest fire by Météo-France on Friday for Saturday, the maximum level reached for the first time in France since the beginning of summer.
In the night from Sunday to Monday, a fire broke out in the seaside resort of Canet-en-Roussillon, causing the evacuation of 3,000 residents from a camp located 100 meters south of the start of the fire.
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