The investigation continues after the fire which ravaged a campsite, several houses and a total of 500 hectares of vegetation in Argelès-sur-mer and in two neighboring towns. The gendarmes of the Pyrénées-Orientales have just launched an appeal for witnesses to try to understand the origin of the disaster.
What is the origin of the fire, how did it spread, how did we arrive at this very heavy toll? 500 hectares of vegetation burned in a huge blaze between August 14 and 16 in three towns located near Perpignan. This Tuesday, August 22, the gendarmes of the Pyrénées-Orientales are calling for witnesses.
The violent fire which affected Argelès-sur-mer and destroyed a campsite in the Pyrénées-Orientales between August 14 and 16 was officially declared extinct on Sunday, according to the department’s firefighters. “After several days of collaboration between the firefighters and the RISC (municipal civil security reserves, editor’s note) for the treatment of fumaroles, the COS (rescue operations commander, editor’s note) passed fire extinguished“, tweeted Sunday evening the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (SDIS) 66.
A campsite had been destroyed in the fire as well as several houses and a caravan guarding company. • © MICHEL CLEMENTZ / MAXPPP
The fire which, in addition to Argelès-sur-mer, had affected the neighboring towns of Saint-André and Sorède, covered a total of 500 hectares. Some 650 firefighters, some from other departments, and air resources had been mobilized to fight the fire which started late Monday afternoon in Saint-André, about twenty kilometers south-east of Perpignan. .
Human origin, accident or malicious act, an investigation was opened to understand how the fire broke out. A unit researching the causes and circumstances of the fires had gone to the site to “autopsy” the fire which devastated the sector.
This Tuesday, August 22, the gendarmes of the Pyrénées-Orientales for their part launched a call for witnesses on Facebook. “Anyone with one or more information to communicate is asked to contact the Gendarmerie Research Brigade of Céret“, write the soldiers who give a telephone number: 04 68 87 91 37.
About 3,000 people, mostly vacationers, were evacuated as a precaution on Monday evening, but most were able to return to their campsites a few hours later. Some 300 of them, however, spent the night from Monday to Tuesday in a gymnasium in Argelès, the time to organize themselves to leave, or to find a place in a campsite or a hotel in the city.
In addition to material damage, the environmental toll is heavy. The site has been disfigured for years, as shown by a satellite photo taken the day after the tragedy.
Pyrénées-Orientales – A satellite photo of the area of Argèles-sur-Mer, Saint-André and Sorède after the fire which destroyed 500 hectares – August 15, 2023. • © Capture @sentinel_hub @CopernicusEU
Written with AFP.
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