Forest Fire Breaks Out in France: 11 People Injured, Thousands Evacuated

A forest fire broke out in the municipality of Canet-en-Roussillon in southern France, injuring 11 people, including two firefighters, and evacuating another 3,000 residents.

This was reported by BFMTV.

According to fire service representatives, on the night of Monday, 19 August, at 2:24 am, a ‘natural fire’ was reported near the municipality of Canet-en-Roussillon in the Eastern Pyrenees.

‘The fire spread very quickly due to north winds of up to 80 km/h towards the Mar Estang campsite, located 100 metres south of the fire's origin,’ firefighters said.

As a precautionary measure, more than 3,000 people were evacuated from the 600-pitch campsite.

They were evacuated to beach bars and a community hall in Canet-en-Roussillon, as stipulated in the ‘municipal protection plan’.

In total, about a hundred firefighters and 27 emergency vehicles were deployed to fight the blaze. The fire was extinguished overnight.

An investigation will now be launched to determine the exact cause of the fire.

As The Gaze previously reported, a forest fire also recently broke out northeast of Athens. The fire spread to Mount Pentelicus, north of the Greek capital, causing mass evacuations.