The mega-fire “under control” in the north of Gard, other fires near Nîmes and Beaucaire

“We are working the fire on its edges, but it will be a very long fire to finish because there are kilometers of edges. We will be able to speak of a controlled fire when there is no longer any risk of resumption. But with the very unfavorable weather conditions we are facing, it may not be before Sunday,” Lieutenant-Colonel Éric Agrinier, communications officer for the Gard firefighters, told AFP.

On the ground, the vegetation was totally destroyed in places, the treetops were preserved in others. “From a distance we can see the brown Cévennes… it hurts,” said Anaïs Donval, a resident of Bessèges, who had been evacuated for the night.

“Afterwards, there is more fear than harm, there was very little damage and no injuries, that’s the main thing,” she added, reassured to know her house was spared.

The tourist sites of La Baume and the Saint-Nicolas bridge evacuated

Despite the violence of the flames which ravaged hundreds of hectares in a few hours, only a garage and a mazet (small rural building) were burned.

According to its mayor, Olivier Martin, the village of Gagnières was “saved” thanks to firefighters who quickly lit a backfire.

However, this fire remains modest compared to the 5000 hectares burned in September 1985 a few kilometers away, in the region of Portes, a disaster engraved in the memory of the elders.

Over-solicited since Thursday, the Gard firefighters faced eight other fires in the department on Friday, where the prefect had banned until Monday from entering all forest areas of more than one hectare. It announced this Friday evening that 49 fire starts were counted in total in the department in two days.

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