Seven chalets at the Barcarès Christmas market, which were being installed, burned during the night from Sunday to Monday.
Sixty-one firefighters were mobilized to put out the flames.
The origin of this fire is unknown at this stage.
Impressive flames, destroyed chalets, exploding gas bottles… A spectacular fire ravaged the Barcarès Christmas market (Pyrénées-Orientales) during the night from Sunday to Monday. Seven chalets which were being installed burned, indicated the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (SDIS) of Pyrénées-Orientales to the police-justice service of TF1.
These large chalets could accommodate 350 people, like the one intended for catering, according to SDIS 66. The origin of this fire is at this stage unknown and “under investigation”specify the firefighters on the social network
According to France 3 Occitanie, (new window) several storage containers were also destroyed while several gas cylinders exploded under the effect of the heat, causing major explosions. No injuries were reported, our colleagues clarified. The impressive Barcarès Christmas market, a must-see attraction in the department for twenty-five years, was to open to the public on Saturday November 16 in this seaside resort which has 6,000 inhabitants but ten times more in the summer.
Many firefighters mobilized
The fire broke out around 4:30 a.m., said SDIS 66 on X. Market security agents immediately raised the alarm when they noticed the rapid spread of the flames. On site, firefighters discovered a large fire, with flames gaining ground over an area of 3,000 square meters. In addition to the seven large wooden chalets, “four refrigerated trucks and three maritime boxes” used for storing food were destroyed, detailed SDIS 66.
Sixty-one firefighters were mobilized to put out the fire. They were supported by several pump trucks, large capacity tanks and additional emergency vehicles, France 3 Occitanie said. Their rapid intervention made it possible to contain the fire, under control around 7 a.m. this Monday, thus eliminating any risk of spread to other areas of the site, in particular the Lydia, the famous liner that was stuck in the sand nearby. “A long work of clearing and cleaning is expected in order to secure the site and assess all the damage”indicated SDIS 66 on X.
Contacted by telephone by The Independent (new window)the mayor of Barcarès Alain Ferrand (new window)lamented “a catastrophe”.
Note that the councilor was recently indicted for “corruption” and imprisoned in a case concerning the management of public contracts linked to Christmas villages in Barcarès between 2012 and 2024, the Marseille prosecutor's office indicated on May 1 2024.
