Two fires in the Arles region: 260 firefighters mobilized in the face of a "violent" wind

Europe 1 with AFP 5:10 p.m., July 07, 2022

More than 260 firefighters fought Thursday afternoon against two fires in the region of Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône), one of which, fanned by a violent mistral, directly threatened homes on the edge of the city.

In Arles, the fire started from reeds and brushwood around noon, before spreading quickly and jumping National 113, a strategic axis which provides the junction of the A54 between Nîmes and Marseille, we learned. with the Bouches-du-Rhône firefighters.

In the area, four Canadair and 120 firefighters are in a kind of "urban guerrilla" to "do everything" to prevent the fire, which has covered about thirty hectares, from reaching nearby homes or businesses, detailed the firefighters.

The N113 was cut in both directions.

140 firefighters mobilized in the Gard

On the other side of the Rhône, on the Gard side, some 140 firefighters were mobilized in the town of Générac for a fire which at the start of the afternoon had already covered 150 hectares of low vegetation and pines, detailed the firefighters of this department in a point of situation.

A firefighter was slightly injured during this intervention.

It was on the territory of this same municipality that the pilot of a Tracker 22 had lost his life in August 2019 while fighting a violent fire which had burned 800 hectares of vegetation, in the context of a historic heat wave in the south of the France.

Red alert for the risk of forest fires

Thursday, it was recommended to avoid these two sectors at all costs.

In general, the 25 massifs of the Bouches-du-Rhône were prohibited from access Thursday, from the creeks to the Alpilles very close to Arles, due to the heat and the gusts of wind expected up to 85 km / h , according to the prefecture. 

Same thing in the Gard, where the entire area from Alès to Arles was already on red alert in the face of the risks of forest fires.