Firefighters put out wildfire in southern France after a week

By Nur Asena Erturk

The wildfire that erupted in southern France a week ago has been put out, the firefighting department has announced.

"After several days of cooperation between the firefighters and the municipal civil protection reserve, the commander of the operation said that the fire was put out," the firefighting department of Pyrenees-Orientales said on Sunday evening on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter.

A wildfire that erupted last Monday swept through nearly 500 hectares (1,235 acres) of land in southern France, displacing over 2,000 people and damaging houses.

The blazes spread through the tourist spots of the Pyrenees-Orientales in the Mediterranean and affected the towns of Sorede, Saint-Andre, and Argeles-sur-Mer.

Houses and other buildings were severely damaged, but the fire claimed no lives, authorities noted.

However, the risk of wildfires persists in certain areas of the country.

On Monday, the weather authority Meteo France issued a high alert for seven regions in southern France, in the Mediterranean part, for Monday and Tuesday.