A fire broke out in a jungle in southwestern France near the Spain border. More than 3,000 tourists had to evacuate their campsites. Many areas are at risk due to the flames.
Due to the violent forest fire, authorities in southwestern France have cleared several campsite locations. The firefighting department stated that on Monday, more than 3,000 people were safely evacuated from the campsites in the Pyrénées-Orientales department near the Spain border.
It has been reported that the fire has already spread over an area of more than 500 hectares, and “the villages of Saint-André, Sorède, and Argelès are in danger.” The fire started near the city of Perpignan, west of the Spain border. There are no major densely wooded areas at the local level.
Officials are hopeful for more evacuations France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin wrote on the online service X, formerly known as Twitter, “A devastating fire has also erupted in the eastern Pyrénées. I urge residents and vacationers to remain extremely vigilant.”
To extinguish the fire, the fire brigade deployed 13 aircraft, three helicopters, and over 500 firefighters. Officials are hopeful that more people will be safely evacuated. For several weeks, wildfires have been flaring up repeatedly in southern Europe.
The Mayor of Saint-André, Samuel Molli, informed France Bleu, “We are facing a fire like we’ve never seen before.” The community has been severely affected, residential buildings and a supermarket have been evacuated.
This is a destructive situation. To accommodate affected individuals, a gymnasium and a large multipurpose hall have been opened for the organization.