A fire started at the end of the day, this Monday, from Massegros, in Lozère, triggered by an agricultural machine.
He had already traveled 400 ha at 11 p.m. and reached neighboring Aveyron.
The fire started because of an agricultural machine, a part of which, by scraping the very hot tar of the road, ignited part of a departmental near Massegros, north of Montpellier, according to the firefighters.
The surface covered by the flames, from 50 ha at 5.30 p.m., quickly increased to reach 400 ha in the evening.
180 firefighters from Lozère and Aveyron were involved, as well as three Canadairs and two Trackers.
The firefighters have secured several houses, without having to evacuate the inhabitants for the time being, they said.
🔥🌳 #FeuDeForêt in Saint Rome de Dolan (#Lozère): 5 #Canadair and 3 #Dash were mobilized in support of the firefighters of @sdislozere & @Sdis12 until sunset.
🚒 40 rescuers and 120 firefighters from Bouches-du-Rhône and Occitanie are in transit.
pic.twitter.com/7u0NwrvEWD
– Civil Security (@SecCivileFrance) August 8, 2022
The fire was moving freely around 9:30 p.m., in very dense pine forest areas that were difficult to access towards the Tarn gorges.
Several fire starts were noted along the RD32 (Lozère) and the RD9 (Aveyron), especially at a place called Bombes, in Aveyron.
Large reinforcements expected overnight
“There were three fire starts because of an agricultural vehicle.
Two were quickly subdued.
Not the third”, indicates Alain Guesdon, Departmental Director of the fire and rescue services of Lozère to our colleagues from France Bleu.
Reinforcements from Bouches-du-Rhône, Ariège, Hautes-Pyrénées and Haute-Garonne are expected overnight, ie 180 additional firefighters, reports Midi Libre.
320 Ha burned between Aveyron and Lozère, 180 firefighters are mobilized on the spot, as many are arriving from Bouches-du-Rhône, Ariege, Hautes-Pyrénées, Haute-Garonne.
"The fire is far from over," says Colonel Souyris @Midilibre pic.twitter.com/NBIyWxNYpD
— Max.
(@Max__Cohen) August 8, 2022
On June 18 and 19, 35 km from Mostuéjouls, another fire in Comprégnac (Aveyron) had covered 430 ha of forest, without causing any victims.
Dozens of people had been evacuated as a precaution.
With more than 47,000 ha already burned since the start of the year, France experienced a record number of burned areas in July, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), which has kept comparable statistics since 2006.
