Speed, results, origin... What we know about the historic fire in Aude

Here is what we know about this fire which left one dead and 23 injured, and its unprecedented nature:

The fire broke out around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday in the commune of Ribaute, about forty kilometers equidistant between Narbonne and Carcassonne. Firefighters responded in less than seven minutes and mobilized almost the entire French air force, which immediately began flying over the Aude sky until nightfall.

Despite a "colossal" operation of more than 2,000 firefighters, according to the prefecture, the Corbières massif went up in flames "at full gallop", reports Bruno Zubieta, elected official of Villesèque-des-Corbières: the area covered by the fire increased from 50 to 4,000 hectares in five hours, reaching 17,000 hectares in just over 48 hours.

Météo-France had placed Aude on red alert due to the “very high” risk of fires.

Under the combined effect of the tramontane, a dry and hot wind, blowing in gusts of 50 km/h, the dryness of the vegetation, whose humidity level was less than 30%, and temperatures above 30 degrees, the fire reached "a propagation speed of 1,000 hectares per hour", according to Colonel Christophe Magny, head of the Aude fire and rescue service.

Until the wind calmed and changed direction on Wednesday afternoon, the flames moved at an "incredible" speed of 5 to 6 km/h, explains agroclimatologist Serge Zaka.

Made up of mountains and hills, the Corbières massif, the transition between the Massif Central and the Pyrenees, has a steep relief that is difficult for firefighters to operate.

According to expert Serge Zaka, this type of terrain can create a "chimney effect," as hot air rises quickly, creating "a vertical air current that accelerates combustion and draws the flames upward," encouraging them to rise to the ridges where they are fanned by the wind. It creates "earlier ignition" and "faster heating" of plants, he says, especially since the conifers and scrubland of the Corbières already provide a powerful natural fuel.

Its impact on the local population

On the first day, a 65-year-old woman was found dead in her home, which she had refused to leave. In total, the prefecture counted 23 injured on Friday: five residents hospitalized, including one with serious burns, and 18 firefighters, one of whom is in serious condition.

The France-Spain highway was closed overnight. At least 2,000 people were evacuated from devastated villages on the first day of the fire; most were only able to return home on Friday. Up to 5,000 homes were left without power due to burned or collapsed pylons and poles.

In this wine-growing region, Aude Prefect Christian Pouget estimated that "800 to 900 hectares" of vineyards have been lost. Some 80% of the vines in three wine-growing villages "are completely or partially burned," causing enormous losses for winegrowers, according to the director of the Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse cooperative winery.

An extraordinary fire

"A disaster of unprecedented scale," according to Prime Minister François Bayrou, the fire is the worst in at least 50 years in the French Mediterranean region, according to the French government's Forest Fire Database (BDIFF), which has been recording the total area covered by flames since 1973.

Often, large fires are the result of several fires accumulating together. But in the Aude region, a single fire burned 13,000 hectares, according to the civil security service. "That's more than the entire city of Paris," Colonel Magny emphasized.

Set for Thursday around 8 p.m., it is also the biggest fire of the summer of 2025 at this stage in France.

At the end of July, halfway through the summer season and before the outbreak, Civil Security had counted more than 15,000 hectares burned across the country for 9,000 fires, mainly on the Mediterranean coast.

According to the initial findings of the investigation conducted by the gendarmerie, the fire started on the edge of the D212 road, lined with dry grass and scrub, which links Ribaute to Lagrasse, in the heart of the Corbières.