The criminal trail is “privileged”, announced the public prosecutor of Privas, after more than 900 hectares went up in smoke, Wednesday July 27, in Ardèche despite the efforts of 600 firefighters. Several fires broke out around 10 a.m. around Aubenas.
“Hats off to the firefighters on the southern fire [de l’]Ardèche: commitment and courage at the service of the population. Privileged criminal track, [garde à vue] In progress “said the prosecution on Twitter, without further details immediately.
According to France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the Aubenas gendarmerie announced that it had arrested a suspect near the start of a fire, who was placed in police custody. On board his vehicle, the gendarmes found equipment which “could incriminate him”.
At the end of the evening, one of the three lights remained very threatening. “As unfortunately we have a situation of significant drought, high heat and then wind, the fire progressed very quickly, gained momentum and progressed southwards in the direction of [du village de] Vogüé, where it is still not fixed »declared the prefect of the department, Thierry Devimeux, to the press at the end of the afternoon.
No injuries
The firefighters are trying to prevent it from reaching the village and spreading across the Ardèche river, where there are large areas of scrubland: “If the fire jumps, there will be a very significant and very rapid progression. This issue will be held in the hours to come, in any case before nightfall ”he pointed out.
Some 600 firefighters are taking part in the efforts, with five Canadairs and a Dash aircraft, as well as around 100 intervention vehicles and a civil security helicopter. There is at this stage “no homes threatened or injured”. Around 150 people were evacuated from Vogüé, along with another 200 people from campsites in the area.
These fires in Ardèche are the latest in a long series. The fires in Gironde have ravaged more than 21,000 hectares of forest over the past two weeks. Last week, 150 hectares were destroyed in Hérault and Aude. A little earlier, 1,600 hectares burned south of Avignon in mid-July. At the beginning of July, some 650 hectares of forest were also devastated in the Gard.
If summers are dry in the South, with global warming these episodes of drought carry a risk of increased intensity, according to UN climate experts. In France, the level of drought has reached a record. Almost all departments, 91 out of 96, are subject to restrictions on the use of water on Tuesday. “July 2022 will most likely be the driest July on record” since 1959, according to Météo-France.