The fire broke out around noon barely 100m² at the start, in an area “sheltered from view” which made Pascal Sarda, the mayor of Opoul, say this evening on France Bleu Roussillon, that it is “probably of criminal origin”. On a brushy and especially very dry ground. Very quickly the devoured hectares numbered in the hundreds. This evening 1000 ha have been destroyed. At the end of the day, the Tramontana pushed the flames towards Salses and the fortress, raising fears of the worst.
An evacuated campsite in Salses
At the start of the evening, 88 people were evacuated from the Bois des pins campsite and a residence in Salses-le-Château. Hosted in the multipurpose room where the town hall has made food and washing facilities available.
400 firefighters from all over the department but also from Aude and Hérault are mobilized this evening, supported by eight water bomber planes. The flames continue to bite the north and the south of the town.
Opoul without electricity tonight
In the Opoul sector this evening it is desolation. Several farmers lost equipment. The town is without electricity. Some homes have water cuts and the telephone network is very disrupted. Luckily no injuries.
The reopened D900
The access roads in the north of the department were completely cut off in the middle of the afternoon.
- No more trains tonight from or to Narbonne.
- The A9 is cut between Rivesaltes and Leucate in both directions.
- The D900 reopened around 9 p.m. this evening but the whole area is congested. Huge traffic jams also on the coastal road, the only access to reach the Aude. It took an hour tonight to connect Saint-Laurent de la Salanque to Barcarès.