In the early hours of Wednesday 11th August there was a fire just before Mas de Roujou by the road to Villeneuvette. So serious was the perceived threat to life and property that, according to the paper Midi Libre, 28 fire engines, a helicopter and three Canadair water dropping planes fought the blaze which took some 6 hours after it started to extinguish. Ash landed in Aspiran 5Kms away. My photographs, taken a couple of weeks later from about 1.5 Km away, show the extent of the damage to the hillside.
The fire was quickly proven to have been started deliberately. The gendarmes suspect disputed hunting rights with the hunting season just weeks away - it follows a number of other (less serious) fires started in the area.
