A fire in the French Pyrenees destroys 668 hectares and crosses the border into Spain

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A fire declared in the French municipality of Cerbera, at the eastern end of the Pyrenees, has already devastated 930 hectares while firefighters continue to work to put out the flames despite the difficulties posed by the strong wind and the dryness of the land. The flames have crossed the border and are already burning a wooded area on the Spanish side.

A total of 460 firefighters are mobilized to fight this fire, which is very similar to those that occur in summer. The intervention is hampered by the wind, which blows at 80 km/h, which prevents the use of aerial means, according to the French television BFMTV. There is no forecast for this wind to subside in the next few hours.

The intervention of the firefighters “has made it possible to protect and save a hundred homes” as well as a holiday center “and the entire town of Cerbère, which without the intervention would probably have been devoured by the flames”, highlighted the Pyrénées-Orientales Prefect, Rodrigue Furcy. “We’re still fighting the fire, on a fire that looks like a summer fire,” Furcy said.

The fire has affected two homes and a firefighter has had to be treated for smoke inhalation, but “there are no injuries among the population,” explained the prefect. Up to 300 people have been evacuated and 180 are confined to the town of Cerbère.

“The fire has not yet been resolved, but the situation has stabilized from the point of view of the protection of populations and property,” Furcy added in a statement at night. Operations will continue overnight. Furcy has also highlighted that up to three quarters of the perimeter, the part located in France, is already under control.

The fire has spread to cross the border, so a total of 39 ground crews from the Generalitat Fire Department have been mobilized to prevent the fire from advancing after arriving in Portbou (Girona) on Sunday afternoon. The body also works in the area with a rescue helicopter, it has reported in a tweet collected by Europa Press.

The fire has gone down the Puig de l’Àliga and is near the Portbou reservoir, from where the Firefighters are trying to stop it “so that it does not pass to the southern slope of the mountain”.

Following this deployment, the head of the Girona Emergency Region, Jordi Martín, explained that the emergency services hope that this Monday morning the fire in Portbou can be considered stabilized. To do this, the Generalitat Firefighters must work throughout the night.

The French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, has announced that he will travel to the area early this Monday morning to supervise the work of extinction of this “vegetation fire”.

The meteorologist Patrick Marlière has recalled the drought that affects the area and that implies a “very marked” and “accumulated for several months” water deficit. There is no forecast that the situation will improve in the coming days or weeks.