In the Gard, twice fire was controlled in the night from Wednesday to Thursday near Générac, where the biggest fire of the season has covered nearly 500 hectares Tuesday and Wednesday, AFP learned from firefighters.
Thirty-four fire engines engaged during the night
During the night's rehearsals, the fire traveled two to three hectares but no houses were affected, the firefighters added. A firefighter was slightly wounded and transported to the Nîmes hospital center, following a bad fall and superficial burns to the feet. Thursday morning he was already out of the hospital. "The treatment of these two occasions of fire has required the mobilization of a dozen more trucks and a hundred men," said Lieutenant-Colonel Cherbétian. A total of 34 firefighter vehicles were engaged during the night.
Thursday, the area will remain under high surveillance. "The combustion continues, the actions of treatments and drowning edges will be conducted all day," he adds. "We are waiting for a complicated weekend, we must also manage the succession of the workforce". A total of 350 firefighters, including 250 from neighboring departments, have intervened since Tuesday to overcome the fire that has covered 488 hectares in 24 hours in Générac. Since the beginning of the disaster, which did not cause any casualties, 190 people have been evacuated.
One of the "most violent" fires since the beginning of summer
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, visiting the Gard Wednesday night, lamented a natural and agricultural "catastrophic". "This is one of the most violent fires we have seen since the beginning of the summer season," said the minister. As of July 31, the area burned in the south of France already exceeds the area burned in 2018 throughout the year, according to the site Prometheus, official database of forest fires in the south of France.