"Maximum vigilance" in the face of the risk of fire reactivation in Aude

The giant fire that broke out last week in the Corbières massif, the worst in the French Mediterranean region for half a century, was "brought under control" on Sunday, but 550 firefighters remained deployed on Tuesday in an attempt to completely extinguish it in the coming days.

" Vigilance remains at its highest in the area , given the weather conditions which remain difficult, and in particular our red heatwave alert, which is expected to continue until at least tomorrow (Wednesday) evening," the prefecture's secretary general, Lucie Roesch, told AFP.

On Monday, "there were 20 drops for small recoveries, so there is still a lot of work to do," she added, specifying that this type of drops are made from water bombing helicopters and not from planes.

"The intervention strategy for this type of disaster is not to comb the entire area, but rather, and particularly by using drones," to identify "hot spots one by one" and then "go to the area on foot and treat them," according to Ms. Roesch.

Two investigations opened

An investigation has been opened into the causes of the fire which started on a roadside in Ribaute and which covered 16,000 hectares, 13,000 of which were burned, according to the civil security.

The fire, which was brought under control on Sunday evening, destroyed 36 houses , others were damaged, and more than twenty agricultural sheds were burned, out of the 3,000 buildings that were defended by the firefighters, according to the prefecture.

A 65-year-old woman died in her home . An investigation into the death is underway.

Another resident was seriously burned. Four other people suffered minor injuries.

Nineteen firefighters were injured, including one with a head injury.