In Ariège, four fires remain active and require significant reinforcements, including aerial resources.
Four fires were still burning in Ariège on Monday, September 28, according to the update published that day by the fire department. Several of the fires are located in areas difficult to access by road. Near Mijanes-Donezan, where the fire remains active, ground reinforcements and aerial resources have been deployed.
Fires that have been installed for several weeks
In Saurrat, a fire that started on August 16th reignited on Friday, September 25th. It burned 185 hectares in an area inaccessible to firefighters. As no particular risks were reported in the area, active drone surveillance was to be maintained in the following days.
In Perles-et-Castelet, the fire, which started on August 26, reignited late Sunday morning, September 27. Visible from the RN 20 highway, it burned over 80 hectares. As the area was also inaccessible by road and presented no particular danger, firefighters planned to monitor the fire for several days. The blaze was then losing intensity.
Another fire broke out on September 14 in the Orlu reserve. No smoke was reported at the time of the firefighters’ update, who were continuing an active reconnaissance of the area.
Reinforcements mobilized near Mijanes-Donezan
The fire near the Mijanes-Donezan station, which started on September 24, had burned 38 hectares. Hotspots persisted along the ridgeline, and firefighters continued to battle the flames.
Twenty-seven firefighters from the Alpes-Maritimes, Languedoc-Roussillon, Var, and Pyrénées-Orientales regions, along with a battalion from Marseille, came to support the Ariège teams. On Sunday, September 27, in the late afternoon, four Canadair water bombers and two Dash aircraft each made four drops. A heavy-lift helicopter carried out 19 drops during the afternoon.
Air resources redeployed to other fires
The wind and intense heat of the weekend fueled the fires already burning in Ariège. New fires also broke out in neighboring departments: several in the Hautes-Pyrénées and one at Carcassonne airport. The aerial resources sent to Ariège as reinforcements had to be redeployed. On Sunday, a reconnaissance aircraft flew over the department to assess the ongoing fires.
In its update on Monday, September 28, the Ariège Fire and Rescue Service (SDIS) indicated that the intense heat was expected to continue for the next 48 hours and called for vigilance due to the risk of fire. The situations described correspond to the report issued on that date.
Source: France 3 Occitanie Regions – weather (france3-regions.franceinfo.fr)
Author: Lily Allais
Original article: See the original source
