This Monday evening, a fire broke out in Saint-André in the Pyrénées-Orientales. The pictures are impressive. According to Actu Perpignan, at 7 p.m., fifty hectares had already been burned. In addition to the 3,000 inhabitants of Saint-André, at least two campsites were evacuated.
The French Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin, has already reacted on his networks. “A fire of great violence is underway in the Pyrénées-Orientales. I call on the population and holidaymakers to be extremely vigilant”, writes the minister. Significant resources have already been mobilized to try to put out the flames: thirteen planes, three helicopters and more than 500 firefighters.
The Departmental Fire and Rescue Service asks citizens to avoid the intervention area and to release to the emergency services. To the people there, don’t be curious. Be careful.
Several villages threatened
“The villages of Saint André, Sorède, and the city of Argelès are threatened,” said the firefighters.
The fire covered between 480 and 530 hectares, according to the sources, in these towns located about twenty kilometers south-east of Perpignan.
“The fire is not yet fixed”, but it is “better oriented than a few minutes and a few hours ago, since we can now see its orientation more clearly”, declared the prefect of the Pyrenees- Orientales, Rodrigue Furcy, on France Bleu Roussillon.
The aerial intervention means had to stop at nightfall, he said.
In the evening, some 430 firefighters were already on site, with reinforcements continuing to arrive from other departments.
“We have firefighters who will come in the next few hours to complete the system to increase power” and take over from the air resources, said the prefect again.
hold the fire
“The priority really at this time (…) is to hold the fire and protect the populations”, he underlined.
For the mayor of Saint-André, Samuel Moli, the situation “is catastrophic”.
“We are facing a fire like we have never seen,” he said on France Bleu Roussillon.
“Our town is hard hit, and there is a lot of damage”, even if “we still have to assess” this damage.
“People must not try to cross the village,” also warned Samuel Moli, who himself had his house affected by the flames.
According to France Bleu Roussillon, several roads were closed to traffic and electricity was cut in Argelès, before being restored in certain sectors.
For Antoine Parra, Mayor Argelès, “it is a fire which is very difficult to control” but which has not caused any casualties for the moment.
“A campsite was totally engulfed in flames” and “people lost their homes”, he said on France Bleu Roussillon.
According to him, the wind is less intense in the evening: “It still blows” but “less than in the afternoon”.
The number of evacuees could increase because 2,500 people were in only one of the five campsites evacuated in Argelès.
