About 1,000 firefighters are mobilized and just over a hundred people have been evacuated.
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A fire broke out around 5 p.m. Thursday July 14 in the Montagnette massif, between Tarascon and Graveson, on the border of Bouches-du-Rhône and Vaucluse. According to Lucien Limousin, the mayor of Tarascon, it is “a freight train” who has “makes sparks” while braking, setting fire to the vegetation along the railway line.
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Rail traffic was interrupted. About 1,000 firefighters are mobilized and more than 1,000 hectares have already burned, according to the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture. Nearly 170 people were evacuated in the Barbentane sector, including children in a colony in a family and rural home announced France Bleu Provence. The town halls of the municipalities affected by the fire have made their gymnasiums or village halls available to accommodate the evacuees.
[#Opérations]
The slope effects, the relief and the difficult access complicate the action of the #firefighters.
The #Firefighters13with the @firefightersdugard and the @sdis84are working hard to contain the fire which has already burned 300 hectares.
2 Milan and 2 Canadair are in flight. pic.twitter.com/6fZ0zVjd0Q— Firefighters 13 (@Firefighters_13) July 14, 2022
According to France Bleu Vaucluse, the smell of burning is perceptible as far as downtown Avignon, about twenty kilometers away, where ashes even fall in the streets. The Avignon festival, on the other hand, maintains its shows: “A fire is currently generating a major cloud over Avignon and the surrounding area. The fire is vegetal, there is no health risk for festival-goers”tweets the official account of the festival.