French firefighters were battling on Wednesday to control the country’s biggest wildfire in almost 80 years, with the blaze in the southern Aude region having already swept through an area bigger than Paris, Reuters reports.
One person died in the village of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, about 30 kilometers from the city of Perpignan, the prefecture said. The fire, which spread very rapidly through forests and villages, has burnt down at least 25 houses, forcing residents and tourists to flee. Many roads are closed.
“It’s a catastrophe of unprecedented scale,” Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said as he visited Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse.
So far, over 15,000 hectares have burned. That is similar to the total area that burned across all of France in several of the past years, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said. He added this was the biggest area burnt by one single fire in France since 1949.
The fire moved incredibly fast, leaving no time to prepare, said Dutch national Renate Koot, who was on holidays in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse with her partner and had to flee.
“One moment we were on the phone with our children … thinking, ‘Look, a fire!’. The next, we had to jump in the car and leave, while praying for protection. We didn’t take anything with us and just left,” she said. “We’re okay. Miraculously.”
“It’s unbelievable. It’s a catastrophe,” said Spanish national Issa Medina, as the sound of firefighters echoed in the background. Medina was with her family in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse.
The prefecture said the fire was progressing “very quickly” and that nearly 2,000 firefighters were trying to bring it under control. Around 2,500 households in the area were currently without electricity, it said.
Firefighter spokesman Eric Brocardi told RTL radio the fire was spreading at 5.5 kph (3.4 mph).
Նյութերը գեներացվում են տարբեր կայքերից արհեստական բանականության միջոցով