The rains and thunderstorms of the night brought, Sunday August 14, a respite to the firefighters who have been fighting for several days against the resumption of fires in France, fueled by an exceptional drought.
In Gironde, where 7,400 hectares have burned, the fire which started on Tuesday August 9 is now considered "fixed", which does not mean that it is extinguished, according to the terminology used by the prefecture of the department. .
"The night was favorable to us, since we had rather rain and very little wind", declared during a press point Ronan Leaustic, sub-prefect of Arcachon, specifying that the 8,000 inhabitants who had been evacuees could return to their homes.
>> To read on France 24:
Carbon emissions, ozone pollution... How forest fires are suffocating the planet
In Aveyron, where 600 firefighters are currently mobilized, the weather conditions were much more favorable in the morning, said the prefecture in a press release.
At least 500 additional hectares burned the day before around the town of Mostuéjouls, in addition to the 760 hectares burned since the start of the crisis.
No new evacuation is planned for Sunday at this stage after those which took place on Saturday at seven sites.
In Morbihan, the fire is now fixed in the Brocéliande forest where 400 hectares of vegetation have burned since Friday in the town of Campénéac, according to the prefecture.
In the Jura also, several hundred hectares were ravaged by the flames, according to the prefecture.
As the heatwave episode ended on Sunday in France, Météo-France maintained seven south-eastern departments at the end of the afternoon in "orange vigilance" due to the risk of thunderstorms.
In Montpellier (Hérault), violent rains overflowed the sewers in the city center, according to images broadcast on the Midi Libre site.
Many municipalities have for their part canceled their traditional fireworks of August 15, due to the increased risk of fires.
With Reuters
The summary of the
France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you!
Download the France 24 app
google-play-badge_FR