A fire broke out at the Espiguette campsite in Grau-du-Roi, on the Gard coast. “The fire is in progress: 52 bungalows would be affected”, wrote, in a statement released in the middle of the afternoon, Monday, June 13, the prefecture of Gard. Gard firefighters posted aerial photos on Twitter showing thick gray smoke escaping from the heart of the campsite, located on the beach.
Fire at Grau du Roi: the @Prefet30 has opened the departmental operational center (COD) as a pref to follow the… https://t.co/vf99sHexZZ
[#incendie] Situation point n ° 3 at 4:30 p.m. ✅ fire limited but smoke still visible ✅ due to the wind, risk… https://t.co/KiNMq8yweS
Some “100 firefighters, 20 gendarmes, 25 municipal police officers, a helicopter and 36 vehicles” were mobilized to deal with the disaster. At 4:30 p.m., the prefecture announced that the fire was contained.
#ForestFires | The @pompiersdugard are engaged in a fire that started at the Espiguette campsite in Le Grau-d… https://t.co/gj9xVITcWF
The fire broke out around 2 p.m. in this campsite, which has 2,028 pitches and where “about 3,000 people were counted” on the register on Monday, explained the prefecture. “At this stage, no injuries are to be deplored, with the exception of a firefighter [victime d’un] heatstroke “the statement said. “The holidaymakers were brought to safety or left the area on their own to the city’s convention center and the yacht club”according to the same source.
Series of fires in the department
This fire comes as forest fires broke out in the department, in Lédenon, Serviers-et-Labaume, Blauzac and France will face a new, particularly early heat wave this week. A localized depression between the Azores and Madeira gradually brings very hot air from the Maghreb to Western Europe.
This hot air will arrive in France on Tuesday from the Southwest where temperatures could already reach 35-36 ºC, before spreading first over the entire southern half on Wednesday, then north. For the southern half, “the big heat peak will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with 35 to 38 ° C”or even 40 ° C locally, probably in the South-West, Frédéric Nathan, forecaster at Météo-France, told Agence France-Presse on Monday.