Wildfires burn 900 hectares in southern France, PM Lecornu to chair crisis meeting

Fire sweeps across Aude and Hérault

A fire started around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday near Oupia in the Hérault department and quickly spread into neighboring Aude under strong winds and dry conditions. By Thursday morning it had burned an estimated 900 hectares of pine forest and low vegetation, though the head of the fire was fixed and no longer advancing. The mayor of Sainte-Valière noted that dead trees and brush left by February's Storm Nils acted as fuel.

The fire moved very quickly because Storm Nils knocked down many plants and that becomes fuel for the fire.

Evacuations and overnight battle

Residents in the communes of Pouzols-Minervois and Mailhac were evacuated on Wednesday evening. Béatrice Bourrel, a 54-year-old childminder from Pouzols-Minervois, described the scene.

We were evacuated yesterday around 5 p.m.; we could see flames from the road. The village was black with smoke, it was impressive.

Christophe Gimenez, a beekeeper, stayed to protect his hives. "I've been here since 5 a.m.," he said. "I have my dogs here and my bees; if we need to clear out, it's immediate."

By early Thursday, authorities announced the main fire was fixed, meaning the fire front had stopped spreading. However, flanks to the north and south remained active, and wind gusts reaching 60 km/h threatened rekindling. All forest massifs in the Aude department were closed to the public and several departmental roads were severed.

Firefighting resources deployed

At the height of operations, up to 800 firefighters and 150 vehicles were mobilized, supported by a Dash water bomber and four Canadair aircraft. Two bulldozers cleared access paths in difficult, hilly terrain. Lieutenant-colonel Jérôme Bonnafoux of the Hérault fire service said, "The head of the fire is no longer advancing, but we had wind all night, which reactivated and strengthened this morning."

Second front near Marseille

Two other fires broke out Wednesday in the Bouches-du-Rhône department. At Rognac, a 50-hectare blaze was fixed by early Thursday, leading to the evacuation of five homes. At Lançon-Provence, a larger fire scorched between 200 and 260 hectares and remained active into Thursday morning. Between 500 and 600 residents of La Fare-les-Oliviers were evacuated. Fire chief Jean-Luc Beccari said crews "fought all night in an area that is quite inaccessible, with extremely unfavorable weather conditions." He hoped to fix the fire by mid-morning.

Government crisis response

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is scheduled to visit Marseille on Thursday to preside over a new interministerial crisis cell dedicated to the heatwave, wildfires, and the adaptation measures needed. Six Mediterranean departments were placed under very high fire risk, with Météo France warning that a third heatwave in a matter of weeks is beginning. No casualties had been reported as of Thursday midday.