Blaze is ‘catastrophe on an unprecedented scale’

French Prime Minister François Bayrou says a huge, deadly wildfire sweeping through the south of France is a “catastrophe on an unprecedented scale”.

He has been visiting the Aude region, where wildfires have scorched an area larger than Paris. Bayrou said the wildfire is linked to global warming and drought.

One elderly woman has been and another person is missing as 2,150 firefighters continue to tackle the blaze, which has burnt 15,000 hectares (58 sq miles). At least 13 people have been injured, according to media reports.

The blaze broke out on Tuesday near the village of La Ribaute. Officials say it is France’s biggest wildfire since 1949.

Firefighters supported by water-bombing aircraft are still battling the blaze, which the authorities have warned could rage for several more days.

“The fire is still very active and the situation remains unfavourable,” Lucie Roesch, secretary general of the Aude prefecture told the AFP news agency, citing drought conditions, rising temperatures and strong winds.

The main affected villages are Lagrasse, Fabrezan, Tournissan, Coustouge and Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse.

The fire advanced rapidly, driven by strong winds, dry vegetation and hot summer weather, officials said.

Jacques Piraud, mayor of the village of Jonquières, where several houses burned down, told Le Monde that around 80% of the village was burnt.

“It’s dramatic. Its black, the trees are completely charred,” he said.

Images show blackened, burnt out cars and people sitting on beaches three hours away where thick black clouds were still visible.

In satellite images shared by Météo-France, the plume of smoke released by the fire is visible from space.

“This is a disaster of unprecedented scale,” firefighter spokesman Eric Brocardi told RTL radio.

“All of the nation’s resources are mobilised,” President Emmanuel Macron said on X, and called on people to exercise “the utmost caution”.

At least 25 homes have been destroyed and more than 2,500 households are without electricity.

Some roads in the region have reopened to traffic, but residents who fled on Tuesday are still being warned to avoid returning home.

People as far as 30km (18 miles) away from the fire have reported feeling its impact.

“The air is suffocating…the smell of burning has seeped into homes,” Serge de Souza, a local in the seaside town of Port-la-Nouvelle, told AFP.

The region has become increasingly vulnerable in recent years due to lower rainfall and the removal of vineyards, which once helped slow the spread of wildfires.

Scientists have long warned that the Mediterranean’s soaring hot and dry summers place the region at high risk of severe wildfires.

According to France’s emergency management service, nearly 15,000 hectares (57.9 square miles) have burned nationwide this summer in more than 9,000 separate fires. The Aude blaze now accounts for the same amount of damage as all the previous fires.