Drôme wildfire grows to 370 hectares as heat reactivates blaze; Gironde military camp also burns
A week-old fire in the Drôme's Claps massif expanded to 370 hectares by Sunday evening, with two reactivations driven by heatwave conditions, while a separate blaze burned 15 hectares at a munitions-filled military camp in Gironde.
Drôme fire progression
The wildfire near Bellegarde-en-Diois in the massif du Claps has been burning for seven days, since Monday August 3, while the Drôme remained under orange heatwave alert throughout the weekend per Météo-France. The fire was stabilized on Saturday August 8 morning with 311 hectares burned, but it resumed later that day under the effect of heat. The prefecture announced on Saturday afternoon via X that reactivations had been observed on the right rear flank, left rear flank, and right front flank of the fire, being treated by air and ground resources. By 18:00 on Saturday, the burned area had reached 320 hectares.
Overnight from Saturday to Sunday, the fire barely progressed, holding at 320 hectares by midday Sunday. However, by 20:30 on Sunday, the prefecture reported significant propagation on the right front sector along the ridge line, as well as on both eastern and western slopes of the Banestier massif in the Claps state forest. This brought the total to 370 hectares, an increase of roughly 50 hectares. Wind was pushing the fire north toward the village of Charens, but its 41 inhabitants were not currently threatened.
- Fire starts near Bellegarde-en-Diois in the massif du Claps
- Fire stabilized at 311 hectares in the morning
- Fire resumes under heat; burned area reaches 320 hectares
- Two reactivations detected at 10:00; area holds at 320 hectares by midday
- Fire progresses to 370 hectares; four firefighters injured Sunday
Reactivations and response
Two significant reactivations were detected since 10:00 on Sunday. The first was located northwest of the fire at Serre Chadeban. The second was at the canyon, with a risk of eastward spread toward the forêt domaniale du Claps and the massif de la Condamine. The prefecture stated the situation remained monitored with attention and mastered at this stage, with particular vigilance on those two sectors.
A total of 408 firefighters and three helicopters were mobilized on the Drôme fire. Since Monday, seven firefighters have been lightly injured in the fight against the blaze. The latest prefecture update on Sunday evening reported four firefighters lightly injured that day. No homes have been affected, and no new injuries were reported during the night from Friday to Saturday.
- Sat Aug 8, morning
- 311 ha
- Sat Aug 8, 18:00
- 320 ha
- Sun Aug 9, midday
- 320 ha
- Sun Aug 9, 20:30
- 370 ha
Gironde military camp fire
In southern Gironde, about 100 kilometers from the mega-fire that ravaged more than 40,000 hectares in late July, a fire broke out overnight at the Captieux military camp in the commune of Captieux, burning 15 hectares of vegetation. The fire was left in free evolution without fire truck intervention because the terrain contains numerous munitions, according to the SDIS. Firefighters planned to voluntarily burn an additional five hectares around the perimeter of the affected parcel so the fire would have no more fuel and extinguish itself. The camp serves as a training zone for fighter jets, and its bulldozers were working in parallel to improve existing firebreaks. By late morning, the situation was judged favorable.
Other vegetation fires
Firefighters from Corrèze and Isère were also mobilized since Saturday August 8 for vegetation fires. In the evening of Saturday, emergency services intervened at Goulles in Corrèze. The BFMTV report noted that Corrèze and Isère firefighters were engaged on separate vegetation fire incidents alongside the Drôme and Gironde blazes.
