A fire in an area of vineyards and Mediterranean vegetation about twenty kilometers from Montpellier (Hérault) covered 800 ha at the end of the afternoon. In this context, the authorities asked the inhabitants of a village of some 500 inhabitants, Aumelas, to evacuate preventively. The fire located in the municipalities of Saint-Bauzille-de-la-Sylve, Gignac and Aumelas continues to progress eastward. Attention is now focused on the western and southern part of Saint-Paul-et-Valmalle, where the most exposed inhabitants have been invited to confine themselves. 50 people were also able to find refuge in the Vendémian party room. No casualties were reported. In addition, a preliminary investigation for arson has been opened by the Montpellier prosecutor’s office.
800 ha burned, 280 inhabitants evacuated
One of the two fires has already consumed at least 600 ha of pine forest since this morning near Gignac, a town affected by the flames since this morning. “Today, the disaster is 600 ha which have already burned”, explained this Tuesday evening Jean-François Soto, mayor of the town, to BFMTV. “We are in pain,” added the city councilor. Several preventive evacuations have taken place, particularly in the Mas d’Arnaud and Mas d’Encoste sectors.
In total, in the department, just over 800 ha have burned, according to Sdis interviewed by BFMTV. Between 200 and 250 people were evacuated in hamlets in the axis of the spread of the fire but no dwellings have burned for the moment, said the firefighters. The prefect of Hérault for his part mentioned the figure of 280 people evacuated.
650 firefighters mobilized
“In total, nearly 500 firefighters are engaged. Two Canadairs and a Dash (water bomber planes) are also deployed, as well as two planes from the departmental cell of the Hérault firefighters. Three columns of zonal reinforcements are expected on site”, initially indicated the prefecture of Hérault, before the number of fire soldiers mobilized was revised upwards at the start of the evening to 650 units. The yellow and red planes of the civil security flew over the wooded areas interspersed with surfaces of vines, also noted an AFP photographer on the spot.
Very important means on the ground
The firefighters have been working since the end of the morning on two fire starts, separated by 1.5 km, which broke out in the municipalities of Saint-Bauzille-de-la-Sylve, Gignac and Aumelas, in a sparsely populated area. The two fires then met, added the prefecture. “The fire is currently heading towards Aumelas”, a village of 531 inhabitants, according to the prefecture. “Order of the sub-prefect: total evacuation of the village, direction multipurpose hall of Vendemian”, a neighboring locality, for its part indicated on Facebook the town hall of Aumelas.
The firefighters had to put it out in very harsh conditions: a 50 km/h wind was blowing continuously in the area. In addition, the heat wave of the last few days has dried up the soil, which makes the intervention even more difficult. Before the fire broke out, the region was already on heatwave orange vigilance alert.