The chosen one did not expect to be one of the “first to experience such a violent disaster”, after the fire which has covered at least 930 hectares of vegetation since Sunday in the Pyrénées-Orientales.
“It was an apocalyptic day, a day you never prepare for”, confided on Monday April 17 on franceinfo Christian Grau, mayor of the town of Cerbère (Pyrénées-Orientales), affected by a fire which covered at least 930 hectares. The fire, which broke out on Sunday between Banyuls-sur-Mer and Cerbère, is now under control, but still “under high surveillance” firefighters.
Christian Grau knew that the “forest fire season would be complicated” as summer approaches, without imagining being “the first to experience such a violent disaster”so early in the year, despite “worries” that he was feeding “for several years” concerning the state of the vegetation. “We had a fifty-year-old pine forest, it went up in smoke in two hours”deplores the mayor of Cerbère.
“Serious and important fire”
Christian Grau describes a fire that started “in all directions”To “full speed”, “at peak, with limited possibilities of action” for help and consequent gusts of wind. “All the factors were there for this fire to be important and serious”, regrets the mayor of the town. Monday morning, “the tramontana has fallen a little”he observes.
“Luckily, there were no casualties or injuries, only a few houses damaged, but none destroyed”says Christian Grau, congratulating the action of the firefighters who protected property and people as a priority.
But the damage to nature is considerable. “For Cerbère, we are 90% impacted on our natural environment”deplores Christian Grau. “It’s an environmental, ecological and economic disaster too, since the sites that have been ravaged will be less interesting for hikers who come here to enjoy the environment, both forest and maritime”adds the mayor of the town. “Everyone is a victim of climate change and its problems of drought”, he concludes.