Overview

• Over 2,000 firefighters and 200 gendarmes remain in the field after the fire was declared fixed on August 7, with full extinguishment not expected for several days.
• The prefecture has ordered all forest massifs closed until at least August 10 and barred evacuated residents from returning without official authorization.
• The blaze scorched 17,000 hectares of garrigue and pine, destroyed or damaged 36 homes, burned 54 vehicles and about 900 hectares of vineyards, and caused one death and 18 injuries.
• Officials attribute the fire’s rapid advance to record heat, strong tramontane winds and extreme dryness under the ‘3×30’ criteria.
• A judicial inquiry is underway to determine how the roadside ignition near Ribaute triggered France’s largest Mediterranean wildfire in over 50 years.