The big fire which has already burned more than 600 hectares of vegetation since Thursday evening in the north of Gard "is still active" Friday morning, according to the firefighters, who are preparing for a new day of struggle with 700 men and women on the spot.
“It is continuing, but the fire is progressing more slowly and fortunately no longer threatens homes,” a spokesperson for the Gard firefighters told AFP by telephone early Friday morning, adding that many edges of the fire remain. not accessible”.
Barely daybreak on Friday, the air resources resumed the drops, with two Milan engaged from 6:00 a.m., said the same source.
Reinforcement of neighboring departments
The fire broke out around 5:00 p.m. Thursday in the hamlet of Bordezac, on the edge of the Ardèche, north of Alès.
The inhabitants of this hamlet as well as a few others from Bessèges had to be evacuated Thursday evening, and a hundred people were relocated according to the prefecture.
Gard firefighters were quickly joined by columns from other departments, to reach a total of 700 firefighters and rescuers, according to a tweet from Civil Security, which adds the intervention of 7 Canadair, 3 Dash , 2 Beech as well as the Dragon 131.
"Thousands of hectares at risk"
At midnight Thursday, firefighters reported "thousands of hectares at risk" in this heavily wooded area, the fire being fanned by extreme weather conditions: a violent wind and very dry trees.
Asked by AFP, the sub-prefect of Alès, Jean Rampon, feared Thursday evening "a spectacle of desolation" in the morning, and feared an overflow of fire on the other bank of the Cèze, "where 10,000 hectares had burned in 1985”.
Thursday, multiple other fires started in Gard and Bouches-du-Rhône, fortunately most were fixed before nightfall.
A violent fire is underway in the Gard, 150 hectares have burned
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