Carcassonne (AFP)
Some 900 hectares of pine forests and vegetation were ravaged in the Aude by a fire that continues to progress without threatening homes and has since made no victims since Wednesday, firefighters said Thursday.
"About 900 hectares burned," said AFP, shortly before 06:30, the commander Philippe Fabre, head of the operational group of the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service of Aude (SDIS).
The fire, which began Wednesday around 16:00 southeast of Carcassonne, in the town of Montirat, "still continues to progress", despite the presence on site Thursday morning about 510 firefighters, he assured.
Despite its progression, the fire, fanned by a wind blowing gusts of 40 km / h at night, does not threaten any home, said the commander Fabre.
He made "no victims" and no homes were destroyed, he added.
The fire broke out on Wednesday for an unknown reason on a terrain covered with pine forests and low vegetation, an area classified at risk "severe" because of the drought.
This sector is very difficult to access, devoid of practicable tracks, had emphasized in the night the prefecture of Aude.
Some 510 men were fully deployed to the site Thursday morning, according to the commander.
One of the objectives is to limit the spread to the village of Monze and Pradelles-en-val, added the commander.
From daybreak, an aerial reconnaissance will be carried out by the relief to make "the turn" of the disaster and determine the strategy to implement with the air assets that will be mobilized.
A Dash Bomber and a Canadair aircraft are expected to move quickly. Two other Canadair could come in the morning.
The wind should strengthen during the day, with gusts forecast at 60 km / h, according to Major Fabre.
© 2019 AFP