The largest forest fire in France in years extended rapidly on Wednesday in a Mediterranean region near Spain after leaving a dead person and several wounds, authorities said. The fire burned a larger area than Paris, and the army was called to help.
French prime minister François Bayrou deplored a “disaster on an unprecedented scale” in the region.
More than 2,100 firefighters and several water bomber aircraft fought against the fire that exploded on Tuesday afternoon in the town of Ribapta in the Aude region, a rural and wooded area that houses wineries.
The fire, which has burned 16,000 hectares (39,500 acres), remained “very active” on Wednesday and continued to progress when night fell, the local administration said. The weather was hot, dry and windy, which makes firefighters difficult to contain the fire.
The villagers sought to help extinguish the flames or save their homes and small businesses, and described their alarm at the speed of the fire. Ash filled the air and windows and coated cars, and several roads closed around the region.
“The sky was blue, and then less than an hour later, the sky was orange,” said Andy Pickup by Saint-Laurent-de-La-Cabrerisse, in the heart of the fire zone. “That was when we left and tried to help.”
“We listened to pops and cracks, they were the trees, it was the people,” he told The Associated Press. “We could see that fires are strengthened in all hills around Saint-Laurent.” At dusk, he said, they saw fires in all directions, some so close to 100 meters (yards) away.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said that the military will reinforce efforts from Thursday, with several dozen soldiers who will deploy.
A person died at home, and at least another 13 were injured, including 11 firefighters, local authorities said. Three people were missing, the prefecture said.
Jacques Piraux, mayor of the village of Jonquières, said that all residents have been evacuated.
“It’s a scene of sadness and desolation,” BFM TV told the station after visiting Wednesday morning. “It looks like a lunar landscape, everything is burned. More than half or three quarters of the town has burned. It is infernal.”
Residents and tourists were asked in nearby areas to remain in their homes unless they were told to evacuate. Two camps were evacuated as caution.
The prime minister met Wednesday afternoon with Firefighters and residents of Saint-Laurent-de-La-Cabrerisse, where the Fire Service Command Post has been established. He said he came to express “national solidarity.”
The economy of the area depends on the winery and tourism and “both sectors are affected,” he emphasized.
Bayrou said that an investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the fire.
The Ministry of Environment said that the AUDE region has been experiencing a drought this month, with water use restrictions. The lack of rain in recent months “played an important role in the spread of fire, since the vegetation is very dry,” said the statement.
This week’s fire was the largest since the creation of a national fire database in 2006, according to the National Emergency Service.
Southern Europe has seen multiple large fires this summer. Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, which makes the region more vulnerable to forest fires. Last month, a forest fire that reached the southern port of Marseille, the second largest city in France, left around 300 people injured.
Europe is the fastest continent in the world, with temperatures that increase the speed of the global average since the 1980s, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service of the European Union.
“We have lived here for 10 years and we haven’t seen anything like that,” said Pickup. “Consistently summers are getting hotter, there are less and less rain, and that is an important problem.”
“They have told us that the wind could be stronger tomorrow,” he added.
