Firefighters have been working since Sunday morning on a fire that broke out between Cerbère and Banyuls in the Pyrénées-Orientales while a second fire outbreak was reported in Argelès-sur-Mer. The Minister of the Interior is expected on site Monday.
A fire is underway on Sunday April 16 on the Vermeille coast, between Banyuls-sur-Mer and Cerbère (Pyrénées-Orientales), reports France Bleu Roussillon. At the end of the day, this fire had already covered at least 650 hectares of vegetation according to the authorities while a second start of fire was reported in Argelès-sur-Mer (Pyrénées-Orientales), said Colonel Eric Belgioino, boss departmental firefighters.
The wind “extremely virulent” complicates the intervention of firefighters who will be mobilized “all night and several days”, specifies Eric Belgioino. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin postpones his planned trip to Seine-Maritime on Monday morning to go to the Pyrénées-Orientales instead. “to elected officials and firefighters engaged in the field”learned franceinfo on Sunday.
For the first fire, the alert was given around 9 a.m. Sunday morning. The fire broke out near Cerbère, in the cove of Peyrefite, before being pushed by the north wind to spread to the heights. Winds exceeding 100 km/h are currently blowing in the area. Residents of Banyuls-sur-Mer had to be evacuated on Sunday morning. In Cerbère, it is the inhabitants of the districts on the heights, Soulane and on the road to the Crêtes, who are asked to evacuate urgently. The town hall asks residents to go to the municipal gymnasium.
A “drought context” to explain the outbreaks of fire
About 360 firefighters are already mobilized, including 220 from the Pyrénées-Orientales. Two reinforcement columns are expected to reach more than 500 firefighters by next night. Colonel Eric Belgioino evokes “the context of drought” to explain the outbreaks of fire. The intervention of firefighters “made it possible to protect and save a hundred homes, a holiday center and the municipality of Cerbère”said the prefect of Pyrénées-Orientales, Rodrigue Furcy.
The situation north of Cerberus is “mastered”but is not yet “South” from the community. According to the prefect, the fire moved “in the national forest with the risk that the fire could come back from the other side of the station and could reach the houses”.
Four Canadair intervened, but they were only able to drop once due to the wind. They can no longer bail out in the pond of Salses-Leucate. Two Dash8 bomber planes are in operation, loaded with “retardant”, to limit the advance of the flames. The departmental D914 linking Cerbère to Banyuls-sur-Mer was cut off as a precaution. The circulation of trains between Perpignan and Portbou is interrupted, indicates the SNCF. The estimated time to resume traffic is Monday at 10 a.m.