70 ha of forest have already gone up in smoke after a fire that broke out late Tuesday morning in Lozère.
The firefighters are still in the process of intervention and the fire continued to progress this evening in rocky bars difficult to access in the classified site of the Gorges du Tarn.
The fire broke out shortly before noon above the medieval town of Sainte-Enimie, labeled "the most beautiful villages in France" and located in the heart of the Tarn gorges, a tourist site classified as a UNESCO heritage site.
The fire quickly progressed towards the summit with a sustained wind and a temperature of 30 degrees, approaching the hamlet of Cabrières, even licking the walls of the five houses which were saved by the firefighters.
He continued his race in rocky bars difficult to access by the ground, burning on his way pine forests of conifers.
The secondary road leading to the gorges, strewn with stones, was closed to traffic.
Four Canadairs carried out dozens of drops, supported by two Dash planes which also intervened dozens of times before nightfall, in particular with a retardant product to slow the progression of the fire.
Some 150 firefighters are mobilized on the site.
Forty-eight from the barracks of Lozère supported by reinforcements from Hérault, Aveyron, Gard and Ardèche.
In 2003, more than 600 ha burned in two days in the same area.