Paris, Europe Brief News – Forest fires in the south of France have destroyed almost 200 hectares of vegetation but are now under control, say firefighters.
Several fires started in the Gard department (Occitanie) yesterday Monday June 13, with one destroying 60 bungalows at one of Europe’s largest campsites. More than 185 hectares were burned before the blaze was brought under control.
A total of 240 firefighters, including some from neighbouring departments, were on-site. The services’ latest report, published yesterday just before 21:00, said that the flames had been “contained”. Emergency services stayed on-site overnight to avoid any risk of restarts.
The first fire of the day was declared at Grau-du-Roi, near the coast, at the Espiguette campsite, which has more than 2,000 sites over 42 hectares between the sea and the Camargue region.
Among the 3,000 holidaymakers registered as staying at the site, no one was injured; although three firefighters called to the scene were slightly hurt during the operation, said commander Christophe Marin-Tallon to BFMTV.
More than 100 firefighters were deployed on Wednesday to tackle a forest fire in southern France, as forecasters said one of the earliest heatwaves in decades was threatening to engulf parts of the country.
The blaze in the Lozere region, which had burned 70 hectares, had been brought under control overnight but there was a high risk that it could reignite, the local prefecture said.
State forecaster Meteo France said a “severe and early heatwave”, caused by a mass of hot air moving up from north Africa, was settling in.