The violent fire in the Pyrénées-Orientales is finally extinguished. After five days of intense efforts by firefighters, the fire, which covered around 1,000 hectares of vegetation in the department and beyond the Spanish border, was extinguished on Thursday afternoon. It is, since the beginning of the year, the most important fire that France has known.
The fire broke out on Sunday, on the heights of Cerbère and Banyuls-sur-Mer, and had been fanned by the tramontane, the northwest wind blowing at times up to 100 km / h in the reliefs. Controlled since Monday, it was still monitored because “there were still small fumaroles”, plumes of smoke coming from the earth, explained the firefighters. With the smoke extinguished, the firefighters were able to leave the site.
Some 500 firefighters since Sunday
In total, some 500 firefighters, from Pyrénées-Orientales and neighboring departments, supported by six water bomber planes, were mobilized on this fire. About 300 people were evacuated on Sunday before returning to their homes.
Visiting the site on Monday, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, pointed out that “the fire season starts early due to global warming”. This fire took place while the Pyrénées-Orientales were affected by a severe drought, which caused significant water restrictions in the department.