Steph Deschamps / August 23, 2022
A fire in the Alpilles massif (Bouches-du-Rhône) had covered 125 hectares of vegetation and mobilized Monday eveningsome 600 firefighters and aerial means without threatening any dwelling, the rescue services said.
The flames, fanned by wind gusts of up to 90 km/h, were spreading through low vegetation in the commune of Aureille, far from any habitation.
No material or human stake is threatened for the moment, insisted the Bouches-du-Rhône firefighters, supported on the ground by their colleagues from the neighbouring departments and the Marseille marine firemen.
The relief, very steep, required the mobilization of a dozen air means of which eight Canadair water bombers and three Dash.
Shortly after 20:00 the fire was still not fixed, said the rescue services that were preparing for a long operation to contain the spread of a fire whose origin is not known.
On Tuesday, the Alpilles massif as well as three other nearby massifs will be closed as they are under red alert for forest fires, warned the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture.
In addition to the mega-fires in Gironde, several fires have also affected the south-east of France this summer, hit by a historic drought, with notably 1,600 hectares gone up in smoke south of Avignon in mid-July. At the end of June, 1,800 hectares of vegetation had also burned on the French army training camp in Canjuers (Var).