About 360 ewes were killed this Thursday in the fire of a sheepfold in a village of the Gard, where a hundred firefighters were mobilized with a helicopter to extinguish the flames that had spread to the vegetation, we learned from the firefighters of the Gard.
"The owner of the premises, a man in his forties with a minor leg injury was evacuated" to a hospital, firefighters said in a statement. This sheepfold fire occurred in the town of Blandas, north of Montpellier.
Forty survivors
"Unfortunately only forty ewes were able to be taken out in time from the farm building, which is completely destroyed," they said, indicating that the sheepfold contained "initially about 400 ewes".
In the middle of the summer season conducive to fires in this Mediterranean region, "the massive and rapid commitment of a hundred firefighters, 25 vehicles and a water bomber helicopter made it possible to quickly contain the vegetation fire which remains limited to about 5 ha despite the severe drought," said the firefighters.