Nearly 3,000 people had to be evacuated from several campsites but also from businesses and several municipalities after a fire broke out in Sainte-Marie-la-Mer and spread on Thursday to Canet-en-Roussillon, affecting the nautical center, the prefect of Pyrénées-Orientales said on Thursday July 2.
Two firefighters were slightly injured, including one who suffered from a “blast” effect, after the explosion of a gas cylinder in one of the campsites, said prefect Pierre Regnault de la Mothe. Another was poisoned by the fumes.
Some 80 mobile homes burned on one campsite in Canet-en-Roussillon and 150 on another while 26 bungalows were destroyed in the first campsite in Sainte-Marie-la-Mer. “This is very significant material damage,” underlined the prefect.
Two hundred firefighters mobilized
“The fire started near the Sainte-Marie-la-Mer campsite, it jumped the Têt river and reached Canet-en Roussion and the nautical center. The fire spread very quickly with the force of the Tramontane and it continues,” said the mayor of Sainte-Marie-la-Mer, Edmond Jorda.
A building of the Catana company, which produces catamarans, was destroyed, said the prefect who was not able to determine the causes of the fire.
Two hundred firefighters were mobilized and four bomber helicopters intervened. A Dash plane that disperses retardant is available.
“In the coming hours, the first priority is to preserve the industrial nautical center of Canet-en-Roussillon” where industrial buildings contain flammable products “which can be polluting”, underlined the prefect. “The second priority is to support the victims,” he added. The mayor of Sainte-Marie-la-mer indicated that they would be accommodated in accommodation centers “for the night”.
