Nearly 1,400 hectares of vegetation went up in smoke in the Monts d'Arrée (Finistère) and 500 people were evacuated, in a fire started a few hours after historic heat records in Brittany, the prefecture said on Tuesday morning.
260 firefighters and 50 fire-fighting vehicles were mobilized on Tuesday morning to fight the flames, and the Dash water bomber plane made available by the regional prefect is again expected on site in the morning, according to a press release from the Finistère prefecture.
This fire broke out on Monday around 2:45 p.m. in the town of Brasparts (Finistère), in the heart of the Monts d'Arrée.
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Large numbers of evacuations
During the night of Monday to Tuesday, "
the progression of the fire in the sector led the authorities to evacuate the town of Botmeur, the hamlets of Ti Beron, Roquinarc'h located in the town of Saint-Rivoal and the hamlet of Roudouderc' h located in the municipality of Sizun
”.
Two accommodation centers are hosting nearly 500 displaced people in Sizun and Landivisiau.
The prefecture also specifies that "
the smell of burning perceived currently on the spot should not cause concern, it is due to the weather conditions which plate the smoke near the ground
".
With the heat wave hitting Western Europe, many temperature records were broken in Brittany on Monday.
More than 40°C were recorded in northern Finistère, according to Météo France, as well as in Lannion (Côtes d'Armor).
Lannion's previous record dated back to 2016 with 35.8°C.
In Brest, 39.3°C were recorded and 40.5°C in Rennes.
This overwhelming heat resulted in another fire outbreak between Saint-Brieuc and Rennes and caused delays on the region's TER trains on Monday, according to the TER BreizhGo Twitter account.
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The Côtes d'Armor firefighters assured Tuesday morning that fires had "
started everywhere on Monday
" but that none were threatening the lines of communication on Tuesday morning.
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