Fire in Aude: the outbreak of fire “could have a criminal cause”

The fire of exceptional magnitude which left one dead and two seriously injured in the Aude, "could have a criminal cause resulting from a voluntary act" , declared the public prosecutor of Montpellier in charge of the investigation on Wednesday, August 13.

"The experts believe that, given the conditions in which the fire started, it could have been caused by a criminal act resulting from a deliberate act. However, this initial assessment necessarily requires confirmation by numerous additional investigations, the duration of which could prove significant," he added in a press release.

The fire broke out on Tuesday, August 5, around 4:15 p.m. along the RD212 road linking Lagrasse to Ribaute. With its charred landscapes as far as the eye can see, the blaze, which swept through 16,000 hectares of scrubland, conifers, and crops, 13,000 of which burned, in 48 hours, was brought under control on Sunday but is not yet extinguished.

It is the worst fire in at least 50 years in the French Mediterranean region, according to the French government's Forest Fire Database (BDIFF), which has been recording the total area covered by flames since 1973.

An investigation was opened the day after the fire by the Aude gendarmerie and the Montpellier investigation unit. The Carcassonne prosecutor's office, which initially had geographical jurisdiction, relinquished jurisdiction on August 9 in favor of the Montpellier prosecutor's regional environmental unit.

As the investigations progressed, the prosecutor's statement continued, "it appeared that this fire had a human origin, any natural cause being excluded."

"A panel of two investigating judges has been notified in view of the human, environmental and material consequences of this fire," the press release concludes.

A 65-year-old woman was found dead at her home in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, a resident was seriously burned and a firefighter suffered a head injury, among the 23 injured during this fire.