320 firefighters were mobilized overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday. All the inhabitants evacuated from the municipality of Salses were able to return to their homes. “There is no longer any direct threat to homes, property and people,” said the prefect.
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A fire ravaged nearly 1,000 hectares of vegetation between Salses-le-Château and Opoul-Périllos, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, learned France Bleu Roussillon from the firefighters. At least eight fire starts were recorded in the area, as of Tuesday noon, according to the prefecture.
“There is no longer any direct threat to homes, property and people and this is a reason for relief”, indicates the prefect of the Pyrénées-Orientales, Étienne Stoskopf, Wednesday on France Bleu Roussillon. Even if the fire “is less dangerous than it was on Tuesday evening”he “stay active”continues the prefect. “We must continue to fight it, on its southern flank, the part which separates Rivesaltes and Opoul”, says Etienne Stoskopf.
According to him, there is “electricity cuts, difficulties in supplying drinking water, but there is no worrying situation”. The competent services are at work to solve the existing problems. A crisis unit is in place.
Departmental roads are still closed, the RD5 and the RD9 which lead to Opoul. The prefect calls on residents not to go to the area “for their safety and for the efficiency” of the firefighters’ interventions. For Etienne Stoskopf “it’s too early to tell” whether the fire is of criminal origin or not, but he notes that there were eight fire starts in the department “while we were not in a situation of extreme risk“.