A hundred firefighters remained mobilized overnight from Sunday to Monday after the fire which ravaged 60 hectares of vegetation in Torreilles. This town in the Pyrénées-Orientales is located about ten kilometers from Perpignan. The fire, which broke out around 3 p.m., was fixed in the evening. 170 firefighters and 60 fire-fighting vehicles were mobilized. The firefighters of the Pyrénées-Orientales received the support of those of the Aude to fight the flames.
Three threatened sensitive areas were protected by the combined action of firefighters, law enforcement and municipal staff: the Pagnon farmhouse in Torreilles, the municipal beach campsite and the Palais de la mer campsite in Sainte- Marie-la-Mer. A total of seven people were brought to safety.
Seven firefighters slightly injured during operations
“The winter season is marked by a period of exceptional drought caused by a strong deficit of rain”, specify the firefighters. This situation “generates, in the event of strong winds, intervention conditions identical to the summer season without the support of aerial means and preventive systems. During the intervention, seven firefighters were slightly injured and were taken care of by the Sdis 66 health service team.
The day before, in the neighboring department of Hérault, firefighters had intervened 23 times for vegetation fires. Firefighters remind “that it is forbidden to burn [pour les écobuages notamment], when the wind exceeds 40 km/h” and under certain conditions: if the weather conditions are good, the safety conditions respected, the firefighters informed and the fire monitored until it is extinguished. “Only owners and assigns can use the fire”.