Firefighters finally managed to contain the fire after a week of battling the flames.
The fire that ravaged 1,360 ha of vegetation in Aveyron and Lozère this week is now under control, the prefecture announced late Sunday afternoon.
The 1,000 people evacuated on Saturday as a precaution following the resumption of fire, were authorized to return to their accommodation or their vacation spot, according to the same source.
The fire broke out on Monday, triggered by agricultural machinery on a road in Lozère, before spreading towards the village of Mostuéjouls, in Aveyron.
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“The rain showers of (Sunday) afternoon made it possible to stem the spread of the fire and the firefighters to regain control”, informs a press release from the prefecture of Aveyron.
Of the 700 firefighters dispatched to the scene, around 350 were to remain mobilized to monitor the evolution of the fire on Sunday and the following days.
“The fire is not yet fixed, but the situation is stabilized.
It is under control,” a spokesman for the Aveyron fire department told AFP.
4,000 people evacuated as a preventive measure
During the week, a total of 4,000 people, residents of two villages in Aveyron and holidaymakers, were evacuated as a precaution.
There were no injuries and the fire caused no damage to accommodation or campsites.
The person responsible for the fire was indicted on Wednesday for involuntary destruction by fire.
He was placed under judicial control at the end of his police custody.
According to the first elements of the investigation, the origin is accidental.
A metal part of his trailer caused sparks by scraping the ground, setting fire to the vegetation on the side of the road, on the edge of Aveyron and Lozère.
