Wildfires are common in the south of France in summer – but the forest fire risk zone is spreading while blazes are also starting earlier. This year the first forest fire was recorded in April.
A fire broke out in a wooded area in the commune of Coye-la-Forêt, in the Oise department in northern France, on Sunday April 26th. Nearly 100 firefighters were called to the scene.
Five hectares of forest located in the Poteau des Écouters area burned, with the blaze reported at 4pm on Sunday. The cause of the fire has not been identified.
A total of 96 firefighters were mobilised until 2am on Monday to tackle the blaze – the first recorded forest fire of the summer, which occurred a month earlier than last year.
Local mayor François Deshayes remains cautious about the origin of the fire.
“It’s an extremely difficult area to access, even for walkers,” he told French media Le Parisien. “The plot is fenced and gated, and the fire didn’t start on its own. We’ll see what the investigation reveals.”
No homes were threatened and no-one was evacuated.
“The houses are quite far from the affected area” said Deshayes “and since there was no wind on Sunday, everything went smoothly.”
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