SAINT-LAURENT-DE-LA-CABRERISSE, France (Reuters) -Firefighters in southern France were battling on Wednesday to control the country’s biggest wildfire so far this year, local authorities said.
One person died in the village of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, and one person from the same village was missing, the Aude prefecture said. The fire has burnt down at least 25 houses. Many roads in the area are closed.
The prefecture said the fire was progressing “very quickly” and that nearly 2,000 firefighters were trying to bring it under control. Around 2,500 households in the area were currently without electricity, it said.
This is “a disaster of unprecedented scale”, firefighter spokesman Eric Brocardi told RTL radio, saying the fire was spreading at 5.5 kph (3.4 mph).
The fire has already burnt through 13,000 hectares, local firefighting chief Christophe Magny told BFM TV, making it the biggest by area burnt through this year and one of the worst wildfires to have hit the country.
The area affected is greater than that covered by the city of Paris.
Prime Minister Francois Bayrou will go to the site of the fire later in the day.
Scientists say the Mediterranean region’s hotter, drier summers put it at high risk of wildfires. Once fires start, plentiful dry vegetation and strong winds in the region can cause them to spread rapidly and burn out of control.
(Reporting by Manon Cruz, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Michel Rose and Sudip Kar-Gupta; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Tom Hogue and Alison Williams)
