Aude deadly wildfire: why investigators suspect arson

Prosecutors investigating the devastating wildfire that raged through the department of Aude this month say they believe it was started deliberately.

The fire, which started on August 5, burned 16,000 hectares in less than 48 hours, killing one person and leaving another seriously injured.

Prime Minister François Bayrou, who visited the site of the fire with the Interior Minister, called it a “catastrophe of unprecedented magnitude.”

A map of the areas affected by the blaze, which was the most devastating wildfire in France since 1949, is available here.

A panel of two judges has been appointed in Montpellier to determine the cause, with arson now the leading line of inquiry.

Arson is behind an estimated 31% of wildfires in France. Indeed, a man from Hérault was sentenced to two years in prison on August 11 for starting dozens of wildfires in the Hérault department between June 25 and July 5.

Fire ‘clearly deliberate’

The Aude fire began around 16:15 along the RD212 between Ribaute and Lagrasse. 

Early images showed flames spreading from a bend in the road, but several metres away from the tarmac.

This distance from the road makes the theory of an accident implausible, said local mayor Alain Coste.

“It appears that it started eight to ten metres from the road. So it is impossible that it was a cigarette butt, it was clearly deliberate,” he told reporters on August 14. 

“Reaching the spot would have required a two-wheeled vehicle, by going up a small track made by wild boar. That gives a clue.”

Investigators are continuing to search the site for signs of an accelerant or other evidence of deliberate ignition.

Rapid spread under extreme conditions

Despite the deployment of more than 2,000 firefighters and extensive air support, the fire swept through the Corbières massif at an extraordinary pace. 

Within five hours it had grown from 50 to 4,000 hectares, reaching 16,000 hectares by August 7.

The colonel of the Aude fire service, Christophe Magny, said the flames advanced at 1,000 hectares per hour. 

Meteorological conditions had created a critical risk: the department was on red alert for fire risk, with temperatures above 30C, humidity below 30%, and the north-westerly tramontane wind gusting at 50km/h. 

The rugged terrain of the Corbières, with its steep slopes and garrigue vegetation, amplified the spread through a natural “chimney effect”.

Human cost

A 65-year-old woman died in her home at Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse. Twenty-four other people were injured, including a resident with severe burns and a firefighter with head trauma. 

In total, more than 2,000 people were evacuated from 16 villages and 5,000 homes lost electricity.

Thirty-six houses, 21 agricultural buildings and 54 vehicles were destroyed. Around 2,200 hectares of crops burned, including up to 1,500 hectares of vineyards, according to farming union FNSEA.

The blaze is the largest in France this year and the most destructive on the Mediterranean coast for at least half a century.