Fires of crops and vegetation ravaged more than a thousand hectares in Normandy, in the Center and in Lorraine Thursday, under the combined effect of the heatwave and drought, was learned from the prefectures and firefighters.
"This is an unprecedented situation in the department of Loiret," said Ludovic Pierrat, deputy secretary general of the prefecture. "We had planned fires but not of this magnitude." Around 8 pm, 572 hectares of vegetation and crops, mostly stubble, had burned, with flame fronts sometimes reaching 2 kilometers, he said. "With the cumulative dryness and heat, the slightest spark causes a fire," said Ludovic Pierrat.
Four houses were also burned without casualties and 250 firefighters were mobilized. Fires were still going on in the early evening.
Nearly 400 firefighters mobilized in the Eure
In the Eure, where temperatures have locally exceeded 42 ° C, "nearly 800 ha have burned for 13 hours," said the prefecture in a statement. "Reinforcements from neighboring departments have been requested (...) bringing the number of firefighters to nearly 400 people," said the prefecture. Thursday night, about fifteen fires identified, 6 were still in progress, according to the same source.
"A house was destroyed and some others were slightly affected but all the inhabitants were evacuated in time and were relocated.No victim is deplored," said the prefecture.
The A11 motorway closed between Chartres and Ablis
Fires also broke out in the Eure-et-Loir, where 1,170 hectares of fields were affected and 269 firefighters mobilized, according to the prefecture. The A11 motorway had to be closed from 16:15 to 18:40 between Chartres and Ablis, announced Vinci Autoroutes in a statement.
"The smoke that emerges from these fires has made traffic impossible in both directions," according to the company.
# A11 traffic stopped in both directions as a result of fires near the motorway between Ablis and Chartres. In direction of Le Mans exit at Ablis (nº1), towards Paris exit at Chartres nord (nº2). Listen to @ Radio1077https: //t.co/dP01eU741M
- VINCI Autoroutes (@VINCIAHighways) July 25, 201936 fires identified in the Oise
In Lorraine, several fires broke out Thursday including one that burned 120 hectares of stubble to Moineville, in Meurthe-et-Moselle, and a second which has covered a hundred hectares in Ottange, Moselle. In Meurthe-et-Moselle, firefighters were called to put out several fires throughout the day. "One of the biggest disasters" occurred in the area of Moineville, in the north of the department, shortly before noon and burned "120 hectares of stubble," according to firefighters.
Very strong mobilization of all the forces of the @ SDIS54, under a hot temperature, to fight against important vegetation.
The # SDIS54 mobilized the #AASC to intervene on relief to people and relieve the mobilized forces on the front of the pic.twitter.com/3Lx4lbrBsm
In the Oise, at least 36 fires of culture and thatch were recorded Thursday, and 260 firefighters were always mobilized at the beginning of evening, indicated the SDIS of the Oise. A firefighter was injured during an intervention. In the North, firefighters intervened Thursday to deal with 45 fires, said the northern prefecture. The prefect has issued a prohibition of crop threshing within a radius of 500 meters around inhabited areas.