Heat, wind and drought: the infernal trio for firefighters. New starts of fires largely occupied their day this Monday, June 20. Dozens of fires broke out during the day.
A partially destroyed house, an evacuation in a campsite
It is in Ardèche that the activity is the most excited. A house was partly destroyed in Thorrenc, near Annonay. The roof burned, the hundred firefighters on site could not protect it. The fire covered 10 hectares. It must be said that in addition to the flames, the firefighters fought against the very strong wind, the intense drought and the scorching heat. An exceptional configuration according to the firefighters.
very rare fact, the fire crossed the Ardèche river at Sampzon, near Vallon-Pont-d’Arc. The fire rolled down a slope, then carried by the wind, the flames reached the beach on the other side before reaching a campsite. As a precaution, around sixty customers, according to the owners, have been sheltered. Firefighters received reinforcements from Gard and Vaucluse. Thirteen hectares burned.
These last few days have been particularly exhausting because of the simultaneity of fire outbreaks. This Monday, at the same time, the firefighters were trying to control and then extinguish eight fires: in Boucieu-le-Roi – where 8 hectares burned -, Lamastre, Le Teil, Glun or even fire outbreaks at Cheylard or Crestet . At the peak of the day, 300 firefighters were on the ground, including 100 from neighboring departments : Gard, Vaucluse, Loire, Haute-Loire and Isère.
A fire impossible to access in Châtillon-en-Diois
In Drôme, after 2,000 calls received this Sunday, June 19, 300 firefighters mobilized simultaneously and 40 fires, the firefighters returned to the field on Monday. First to monitor the fires of the day before in Grignan, Roussas or Saint-Barthélémy-de-Vals. Twenty firefighters remained on watch.
At the beginning of the afternoon, around 2:30 p.m., around sixty firefighters, including people from Isère, were mobilized for a fire in Saint-Rambert-d’Albon, in the Nord Drôme, for a stubble fire which covered around ten of hectares. Three homes were evacuated as a precaution but they were not damaged by the flames. There were no injuries. The fire was no longer progressing at the end of the afternoon.
Finally in the evening, a canadair came to support Châtillon-en-Diois to carry out two water drops. A fire broke out in an uninhabited, sloping area, impossible to access by truck. About 5,000 m² had burned.
Due to the climatic conditions, the greatest caution is requested from the inhabitants. In nine out of ten cases, the fire is of human origin, most of the time accidental: public works, agricultural work, or badly extinguished cigarette butts – the preferred hypothesis to explain the fire on Sunday along the A7 motorway in Portes-lès-Valence.