firefighters fight two resumptions of fire in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

Firefighters fight in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence two fires which had nevertheless been fixed, announces the prefecture, Thursday, August 4. In total, the flames covered more than 800 hectares of forest on these two fires.

A first resumption of fire concerns the place called “La Colle” in the village of Niozelles, near Forcalquier, which had been evacuated on Tuesday as a precautionary measure due to the fire. In this sector, the flames have covered 250 hectares and remain active “on the right sector”. Significant air resources were mobilized, with seven Canadairs and a Dash. At 8 p.m., “actions to protect sensitive points and direct fire attack” were in progress simultaneously.

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The other resumption of fire concerns the town of Rougon, 80 kilometers further east. The fire, which started on July 26, covered a total of more than 600 hectares “after a resumption yesterday around 1 p.m.”, also informed the prefecture. On July 27, as the fire progressed in the town, perched on the heights of the Verdon Regional Natural Park, some 400 people had to be evacuated from a campsite in Castellane. The fire was fixed two days later.

In addition to the mega-fires in Gironde, several fires also affected the south-east this summer hit by a historic drought, with in particular 1,600 hectares going up in smoke south of Avignon in mid-July. At the end of June, 1,800 hectares had also burned on the French army training camp in Canjuers (Var), located not far from there.