Man arrested after more fires blaze on Corsica
A man has been arrested on suspicion of deliberately starting up to five fires in the Haute-Corse, Corsica, this weekend.
Over 2 000 hectares of vegetation were destroyed in the fires on the night of Friday August 11, with one man taken into custody at 1h the next day, according to the region’s prefect Gérard Gavory.
Almost 1 000 people had to be evacuated due to the flames on Friday, including residents in two campsites and hamlets in the north of the island, in the communes of Sisco and Pietracorbara. Several dozen hikers were also given shelter pending work by the emergency services.
The fires have now been “stabilised” but are still burning in the local commune of Sisco, Gavory said.
Emergency services have been attempting to contain the blazes and stop them from spreading to the forest or towards people’s homes, and the situation was described as “calmer” by Sunday.
The Haute-Corse and the Var (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) regions are both on high alert again following the fires of last month, due to ongoing drought conditions and predicted strong winds.
The forest fires last month destroyed more than 7 000 hectares of vegetation and saw over 12 000 people evacuated, although there is no suggestion they were linked to this more recent incident.
