Portbou, pending a violent fire in Cerbère, three kilometers from the border

taketonews

A virulent forest fire has been unleashed this Sunday in the French municipality Cerberejust three kilometers from the border with Spain. In the extinction of the fire, which already has burned more than 450 hectaresthey work 400 firefighters and four air crews of the French emergency services. The Generalitat fire brigade They collaborate in the tail of the fire, located on the right flank, with 18 ground crews and two air crews, the body has indicated. In addition, the national highway N-260which connects the Girona town of Portbou with France, is closed to traffic like its namesake in Gallic territory, the D-914indicates the Servei Català de Trànsit.

The fire broke out at 9:30 a.m. this Sunday near the peyrefite capebetween Cerbère and Banyuls-sur-Mer. “We are worried. The strong wind fans the flames and the area is very dry“, say sources from the Pyrénées-Orientales Fire Department (SDIS 66) to ‘France Blue’. Today in Northern Catalonia the tramuntana windwhich leaves gusts of wind above 100 km/h in the Cape Bear, located in the municipality of Port VendresAlso in the RossellóThey have reached 140 km/h.

Forces from the neighboring departments of Aude, racAriège and Hérault have also been mobilized, reported the French media, which specifies that the flames have crossed the fence of the train tracks and advance towards the sea, an extreme that Bombers confirms. “The fire is on the Sant Joan peak and is advancing towards the sea,” the body says on Twitter.

Evacuations and confinement

The emergency services They have proceeded to evacuate the neighborhood Cerbere station and houses on the outskirts of the town, in which 1,500 inhabitants live. Likewise, the gendarmes ask the inhabitants to remain confined for the moment and the town council has opened the gym to accommodate the victims.

The mayor of Portbou, Xavier Barranco, has said that he trusts that the fire will not reach the Catalan municipality. Even so, he has asked the residents of the farmhouses near the area of ​​the fire to evacuate them as a precaution.

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The fire and the columns of smoke can be seen from kilometers away, from Perpignya until the Alt Empordaspecifically from Llançàa town located 12 kilometers south of Portbou.

On the other hand, the French National Meteorological Service has recalled that this area is one of the most affected by the drought that the French country also suffers: between September and March, the level of rainfall was reduced by half compared to normal, according to Weather-France.



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