Since 4.20 pm on Tuesday, a a forest fire of exceptional magnitude touches the hearts of Corbières, in the Aude department. The fire broke out near Ribaute, between Narbonne and Carcassonne, in an area designated as red fire alert. At 7.30 pm, the incident has already covered 1,500 hectares according to BFMTV, and more than 800 firefighters are being deployed in an attempt to contain the flames.
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The fire is being fanned by a tramontane wind blowing at 70 km/h, temperatures in excess of 32 °C, very low humidity and extreme drought. Taken together, these conditions are causing the fire to spread very fast and very dangerous. 9 Canadairs, 5 Dash, 2 water-bombing helicopters and a around a hundred police officers are also involved in the operations.
Five villages evacuated; Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse cut off
The evacuations relate to the local authorities of Ribaute, Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, Tournissan, Jonquières and Coustouge. In several neighbourhoods of Tournissan, the flames are approaching homes. At Lagrasse, a The entire campsite was evacuated, and dozens of people have been rehoused.
To Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, the situation is critical: the The village is shrouded in a cloud of thick smoke according to the'Freelancer', the access roads are closed and emergency services are being deployed urgently to protect homes. The Aude Prefecture has activated its departmental operations centre and opened a public information unit can be contacted at 09 70 80 90 40.
Extreme weather conditions in the Aude
The fire risk is at its highest this Tuesday, 5 August. The department is on Red alert: “forest fires” by Météo-France, and this situation is confirmed on our fire risk map. The weather conditions make the situation worse: strong winds, dry air, high temperatures.
To follow Real-time updates on the forest fire in the Aude, please see our interactive map of current fires. It enables the identification of active fire sites, evacuated areas and the resources deployed.