the essential
More than 3,000 people were evacuated from various campsites on Monday in the Pyrénées-Orientales, where a fire affecting three municipalities, including the seaside resort of Argelès-sur-Mer, covered several hundred hectares and threatened homes.
The fire broke out this Monday, August 14 at the end of the afternoon in the municipalities of Saint-André, Sorède, and Argelès, about twenty kilometers south-east of Perpignan. It has now been fixed since 3 a.m. after having traveled 500 hectares according to our colleagues from France Blue Roussillon.
“The fire broke out shortly after 5:00 p.m. […] in a suburban area with a high tourist concentration. The situation was particularly delicate due to intense heat, drought and swirling winds up to 80km / h,” the prefecture told AFP.
Some “430 firefighters have been mobilized since 5:00 p.m. and were supported until nightfall by eight Canadair, three Dash and three water bomber helicopters. The air resources will resume their rotations as soon as daybreak tomorrow morning”. The prefecture is still waiting for new reinforcements from other departments: “There are more than 650 firefighters who will fight the fire throughout the night,” she says.
Twenty firefighters injured
Four campsites and two housing estates were evacuated and seven accommodation rooms were opened in total in the three municipalities to accommodate the evacuees. More than 3,000 people were evacuated from campsites. From midnight, the occupants of three of the four campsites were able to return to their accommodation.
Twenty firefighters were injured in the fire, including one hospitalized after a fall. The fire caused no casualties among the population. Several roads were cut and traffic on the SNCF Perpignan-Cerbère line was interrupted.
People fleeing the flames
The Independent
Early Monday evening, the mayor of Saint-André, Samuel Moli, had declared on France Blue Roussillon that the situation was “catastrophic” before adding: “We are facing a fire like we have never seen”. His town is also “hard hit, and there is a lot of damage”.
For Antoine Parra, mayor of Argelès, this fire was “very difficult to control”. “A campsite was totally engulfed in flames” and “people lost their homes,” he said Monday evening on France Blue Roussillon.
