the fire fixed, 1000 hectares gone up in smoke

ARDECHE FIRE. The fire raging in Ardèche is now fixed, announced the prefect Thursday July 28, 2022, while the fire ravaged more than 1000 hectares.

[Mis à jour le 28 juillet 2022 à 07h56] Relief in Ardèche. The fire which affects several municipalities, including Aubenas and Lussas, has now been fixed since Thursday July 28, announced the prefect at the microphone of France Blue Ardeche. If the flames are still not extinguished, they are no longer advancing when they have already ravaged between 1,100 and 1,200 hectares in the department, according to the state representative. A disaster resulting from the start of eight fires, Wednesday, mid-morning, near Aubenas, Saint-Privat, Darbres, Lussas, Freyssenet and Saint-Julien-du-Serre, which no longer have formed only one blaze during the day. 400 firefighters are still mobilized on site to treat the “hot spots” which are still under surveillance. “We consider that the most difficult parts in terms of treatment on the edges are contained. So normally, we should not have a sector which resumes in terms of virulence in too large a proportion”, indicated Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Michel Chalançon of the SDI Ardèche on BFM TV. The inhabitants of the municipality of Vogüé, initially evacuated by prevention, were able to return to their homes.

Images of fires in Ardèche

The fires, which progressed at high speed in Ardèche, were captured in images and videos by firefighters and residents. The images show impressive flames and columns of smoke.

What is the toll of the fire in Ardèche?

Flames from the fires have advanced more than 1000 hectares since the start of the fire. On the human toll side, 4 firefighters were slightly injured. No victims are to be deplored and no homes destroyed or threatened by the fires. The authorities were still scared when the fires approached the Lavilledieu industrial zone, prompting the emergency evacuation of two factories. The area is now secure. And the fire is now fixed.

What is the origin of the fires in Ardèche?

Wednesday July 27 in the evening, the parquet floor of Ardèche announces that the “criminal track is privileged” within the framework of the fires which strike the Ardèche. A custody is in progress. According France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the gendarmerie arrested a suspect near a fire. Before that, his vehicle had been spotted several times by residents, near incipient fires.

A suspect arrested

Working on the criminal trail, investigators have already arrested a suspect suspected of being the cause of the fires in Ardèche. The man was arrested in Saint-Julien-du-Serre at the end of the morning, according to France Blue Ardeche, he came out of a bush and returned to his pick-up. The vehicle corresponds to the description of the witnesses who say they saw an arsonist near the start of the fire. The suspect is in his forties. He must be auditioned and his pickup searched.