The Largest Forest Fire Since 1949 Has Broken Out In France

Hundreds of local residents have fled their homes.

Large wildfires have been raging in the Od department in southern France since Tuesday evening, August 5, with at least one person killed, nine others injured, and cars and buildings damaged. More than 1.8 thousand firefighters are involved in extinguishing the fires, as well as all firefighting aircraft in the country, indicates AFP.

The fire started the day before at 16:00 local time. In less than a day, the fire spread to the Corbières region off the Mediterranean coast due to strong winds and dry weather and destroyed plants on an area of at least 15,000 hectares. In the small commune of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabreris, an elderly woman was found dead in a burned-out house and refused to evacuate. Another resident of the settlement has been reported missing. One resident also suffered life-threatening burns, according to local authorities. Eight others suffered minor injuries, including seven smoke-poisoned firefighters.

The fire destroyed or damaged at least 25 residences. Authorities evacuated two campsites as well as hundreds of local residents. The A9 coastal highway connecting France and Spain between the towns of Narbonne and Perpignan (nearly 75 kilometers), as well as many less busy local roads, was closed for several hours. Authorities have launched an investigation into the causes of the fire.

The fire in southern France has become, according to AFP estimates, the strongest in the country for this summer, while since the beginning of June only on the Mediterranean coast recorded about nine thousand fires. And the Parisian edition Le Parisien, referring to the assessment of the Ministry of Ecology of France, calls the fire in Ode the largest for France since 1976, when 80 thousand hectares of forest burned. Since then, no fire in the country has not covered an area of more than 10 thousand hectares. In the summer of 2022, as a result of fires in the Gironde department burned almost 30 thousand hectares of forest, but it was the result of not one, but several fires.

But BFM TV quotes a comment from the Minister of Internal Affairs of France Bruno Retayo, who called the fire in Ode the largest in France since 1949, when burned about 52 thousand hectares. The estimates are probably different because in 1976 such a large amount of damage was caused by several fires, not just one.

You can support the website Charter97.org

MULTI-CURRENCY ACCOUNT FOR ASSISTANCE:

Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims

You can contact us by the e-mail charter97@gmail.com