Firefighters remain mobilized to check that the fire does not start again.
Published on 08/20/2024 12:03
Reading time: 1 min
The fire that ravaged the surroundings of Frontignan leaves behind a desolate landscape. (SYLVIE CAMBON / LE MIDI LIBRE / MAXPPP)
The fire “the most important of the season in the department” according to the prefect of Hérault is “perfectly mastered” and soon “extinct”announced Colonel Jérôme Bonnafoux, spokesman for the Hérault firefighters, on franceinfo on Tuesday, August 20. The fire broke out on Sunday in Frontignan and covered more than 300 hectares. The system “has been lightened”adds the spokesperson for Sdis 34, even if surveillance continues on Tuesday afternoon “in relation to the weather conditions which are quite unfavourable”. 400 firefighters will be assigned to this task, “ready to intervene”.
The fire, which started very close to the A9 motorway on Sunday afternoon, covered 320 hectares, a figure that has not changed since Sunday 11pm, in the Gardiole massif, between Gigean and Frontignan. It was brought under control during the night from Sunday to Monday by the firefighters. No one was injured, but an unoccupied house was destroyed, as well as several sheds.
“We are in the process of reporting that the fire is out.”says Jérôme Bonnafoux who prefers “We have to wait a few more hours because, with the wind and the temperatures we’re going to have, we’re not safe from experiencing recoveries.“. The spokesperson for the Hérault fire brigade explains that we must be patient when faced with a fire that has covered several hundred hectares, because it does not go out immediately, “You always have to wait a few days, because you can have hot spots due to underground roots that […] can generate new recoveries two or three days after having properly fixed the fire.” This is also the work currently being carried out by Sdis 34, which uses drones to “identify hot spots”. For the moment, no hot spots have been detected by the emergency services.
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