Southern France on high alert as forest fires continue to burn

RFI

19 August 2024 at 8:43 am·1-min read

Some three thousand holidaymakers were evacuated from a campsite in Canet-en-Roussillon, in the south of France, overnight Sunday due to a fire that was later brought under control. Firefighters were still tackling two other blazes in the southern Hérault area on Monday.

According to a statement from the emergency services, the fire in Canet-en-Roussillon, in the Pyrénées-Orientales broke out on Monday around 2:00 am local time and was fanned by winds blowing at 80 km/h.

It destroyed one mobile home. "Five others were partially affected, as well as a caravan," the statement noted.

During the rescue and evacuation operations, "seven people were slightly injured: four civilians, two firefighters, and one police officer," according to the same source.

The tourists were accommodated in a municipal building, but "by 7:00am, about 2,500 campers had returned to their accommodation".

Elsewhere, a fire that started on Sunday afternoon in Frontignan – near Montpellier – was brought under control by firefighters during the night after ravaging around 350 hectares of pine forest without causing any injuries.

"The fire has been under control for two and a half hours, and we are still working on it," Lieutenant Colonel Jérôme Bonnafoux, spokesperson for the Hérault firefighters, told French press agency AFP on Monday shortly after dawn.

'Too hot to handle': 2024 likely to be warmest year on record

Firefighters emptied the swimming pools of private homeowners to tackle the blaze, the mayor's cabinet director added.

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