by Saint-Laurent-de-La-Cabrisse, France (Reuters) Firefighters in southern France fought on Wednesday to control the largest natural fire in the country so far this year, the local authorities said.
One person died in the village of Saint-Laurent-de-La-Cabrisse, and one person from the same village was missing, the Aude prefecture said. The fire burned down at least 25 houses. Many roads in the area are closed.
The prefecture said that the fire “very quickly” progressed and that nearly 2,000 firefighters tried to control it. About 2500 households in the area were currently without electricity, it said.
This is “a disaster of unprecedented scale,” spokesperson Eric Brocardi, told Fireman, told RTL Radio and said the fire spread at 5.5 km / h (3.4 MPH).
The fire has already been burned by 13,000 hectares, the local fire brigade chief Christophe Magny told BFM TV, so that it was burned by the area this year and one of the worst forest fires that affected the country.
The affected area is greater than covered by the city of Paris.
Prime Minister Francois Bayrou goes to the site of the fire later in the day.
Scientists say that the hotter, drier summers of the Mediterranean region have a high risk of forest fires. As soon as burning starts, abundant dry vegetation and strong wind in the region can ensure that they spread quickly and burn out.
(Reporting by Manon Cruz, Charlotte van Campenhoutr, Michel Rose and Sudip Kar-Gupta; Writing by Ingrid Melander; adaptation by Tom Hogue and Alison Williams)
