The fire started Thursday by sparks at the passage of a freight train in the Montagnette massif, south of Avignon, was fixed overnight by the firefighters, who continued on Tuesday to flood the edges to avoid a new recovery.
This fire, which had started Thursday at the foot of the massif, in the north of the Bouches-du-Rhône, burning some 1,500 hectares, had undergone a new recovery on Monday afternoon, forcing the emergency services to deploy 500 firefighters and 140 machines in total, with the assistance in the air of three water bomber helicopters and a Canadair.
120 hectares burned
Faced with the threat, the mayor of the town of Barbentane had evacuated two districts as well as a crèche and a daycare center late Monday afternoon.
But the city was finally saved from the flames thanks to backfires caused by firefighters, reassured the elected official late Monday evening.
Tuesday morning, 400 firefighters were still on the site "to drown the edges and treat the residual hearths" told AFP a spokesperson for the firefighters of SDIS 13, specifying that this number should gradually decrease during the day.
Two Canadair must also be assigned to the area in the morning to speed up the flooding process and prevent a new outbreak of fire.
In total, 120 hectares have been covered since Monday during this new fire, in addition to the 1,500 already gone up in smoke.
The Montagnette fire resumes, 400 people evacuated
Company
Heat wave and fires: The south of France put to the test before a high-risk weekend
Fire
Avignon
Firefighters
Paca