2023-04-16 19:03:22
About 680 hectares of vegetation were devoured, Sunday, April 16, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, by a violent fire fanned by the wind, learned Agence France-Presse from the firefighters and the prefecture of the department.
As a precaution, some 200 people were evacuated in the sector of the municipality of Cerbère and 100 people were confined, explained the prefecture.
Press release: ⚠️ Fire in the Cerbère and Banyuls sur Mer sector A fire broke out on April 16… https://t.co/C3p5BAT7bJ
The fire broke out in the morning between the two municipalities of Cerbère and Banyuls-sur-Mer. Some 360 firefighters were mobilized to try to slow its progress, according to the prefecture.
The fire was fanned by a strong north wind. Four Canadair and two Dash were deployed to try to put an end to it, said in a tweet the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who will go there on Monday “with elected officials and firefighters engaged in the field”.
Important forest fire in the Pyrénées-Orientales. More than 300 hectares already covered. Full support for 300 sap… https://t.co/VuDvH9M6TX
It is currently the largest fire of the year 2023. It broke out in a department particularly affected by the lack of precipitation and the dryness of the soil.
“The replenishment of water stocks, crucial in winter, has not (…) has not taken place and the groundwater situation continues to deteriorate”, had recently noted the prefecture of Pyrénées-Orientales. In her press release, she stated that “This phenomenon, which started in June 2022, is still ongoing, and is the longest and most intense since the start of soil moisture monitoring by Météo-France in 1959”.
#PyrénéesOrientales #fire #ravages #hectares #vegetation