Forest fires have approached the town of Ascain -
Sec Sécurité Civile
A gendarmerie investigation is underway to determine the origin of the fires, but one of the two main outbreaks probably came from Navarre, in neighboring Spain.
Some 70 firefighters remained engaged this Sunday in the Basque Country on low and medium mountain fires, which have destroyed 790 hectares of vegetation since Saturday.
There were no casualties, and the risks now seem ruled out for homes, according to the prefecture.
High altitude vegetation on the mountainside, mainly brush, moor, forest, have been traversed since Saturday by a multitude of small outbreaks, fanned by strong winds - up to 100 km / h in relief - and who mobilized at the height of the device in the evening 170 firefighters from the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, reinforced by staff from the Landes and Hautes-Pyrénées.
The Civil Security Dragon 64 helicopter was also called upon for reconnaissance operations.
About 70 hikers evacuated as a precaution on Saturday
Of the two main threatening outbreaks on Saturday, one was extinct and under surveillance in the Urrugne-Biriatiou sector this Sunday at midday.
The other, in the Ascain-La Rhune sector, was fixed and was no longer progressing, but certain high-altitude areas remained too inaccessible to shut it down, the prefecture told AFP.
About 70 hikers had been evacuated as a precaution on Saturday, others being invited to turn back by the gendarmerie which blocked the accesses.
Only a barn and a sheepfold, unoccupied, were destroyed by fire, the same source said.
The mayors of several municipalities, Ascain, Urrugne, Biriatou, have issued decrees prohibiting access to the massif.
The weather context turned out to be a priori more favorable this Sunday, with less strong winds expected - gusts of 60-70 km / h - and rain forecasts at the end of the day.
Ecobuages involved?
Due to weather conditions "favorable to the spread of fire", with mild temperatures and strong winds, the prefecture of Pyrénées-Atlantiques had issued a decree on Saturday banning the incineration of plants until Monday, in order to prevent uncontrolled clearing, which is often the cause of fires in these mountain areas.
Friday and Saturday morning, in Béarn in the Ossau valley, the firefighters of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques also had to intervene for mountain fires apparently linked to poorly controlled ecobuages.
Miscellaneous
Pyrénées-Atlantiques: Nearly a hundred firefighters mobilized on mountain fires
Miscellaneous
Pau: Attempted fire and degradation of the premises of a bear defense association
Society
Bayonne
Aquitaine
Firefighters
Fire
Fire