A family holiday on France’s Mediterranean coast ended in shock for several Irish visitors after fast-moving wildfires, whipped up by strong winds, tore through campsites in the country’s south.
Michael Cleary and his family were among those evacuated from the Le Brasilia campsite in Canet-en-Roussillon, close to the Spanish border.
Posting on X, Mr Cleary said the fire destroyed their holiday cabin as well as all of the family’s belongings.
The family had landed at Carcassonne Airport only yesterday morning to start their break, but have since made their way back to Dublin.
Crowds of people are evacuated to a beach in Canet-en-Roussillon due to the wildfires
In his social media post, Mr Cleary wrote: “Kids devastated but we’re OK. Scary hearing all the explosions, presumably gas cylinders, caused by the fire. The winds yesterday were very significant and really hampered the firefighters.”
Nadia and Niall O’Brien were also staying at Le Brasilia campsite. Speaking to the News at One, Nadia O’Brien said they later learned their chalet had been burned out in the blaze.
“We have nothing, except passports, phones. And we were brought to the rescue centre. Eventually, a van picked us up yesterday, and the rescue centre was chaos. It wasn’t clear what was happening so we managed to book an Airbnb in the area just for last night at our own expense. This morning, we went to the police station because we’re in a town with no clue, nobody speaks English, and we didn’t know what to do, to be honest.”
They spent time at a rescue centre from 10am this morning. Food has been provided, she said, but there is still very little clarity about the wider situation.
“There will be a bus at 4pm for us to go and take pictures of the burnt place so that we can use it for insurance, I suppose. My husband did contact the insurance this morning and apparently we need to provide receipts for all our belongings. I don’t know how I can provide receipts to be honest because they are belongings that we’ve gathered over time”.
Destruction at Le Brasilia campsite today (Pic: Niall O’Brien)
She said she had also asked police about possible refunds, but was told there was no information available at this stage.
“We’re incredibly grateful to the firefighters, emergency services, volunteers and local people who helped us,” Nadia O’Brien said.
Dubliner Kim O’Connell and her family, including her two children aged eight and six, were also forced to leave their accommodation at Le Brasilia campsite.
Speaking to the News at One, Kim O’Connell said they were at the pool when they noticed smoke rising. As others began leaving the area, they returned to their bungalow, where staff told them to evacuate immediately.
“So we took essentials and left, we got our passports and we evacuated on foot out to the beach,” Ms O’Connell said.
“There’s a little estuary where the river comes in, so we had to wade through that and just walk further up the beach until we got to a port. And it was maybe 40 minutes of walking with the two kids. Once we got to the port, everybody waited around for a while and there was buses that arrived. I think the mayor of the town arranged those. We were fortunate enough to have booked a taxi, which took a long time to get there and we left in that,” she added.
She said the blaze intensified rapidly, beginning as a plume of white smoke before darkening to brown.
“As we were evacuating, you could hear explosions, which I think were the gas canisters exploding. And that obviously was scary for the kids. But as we were walking along the beach, you could just see the smoke getting worse and worse. It was incredibly windy. And I saw it spread extremely fast. And through the campsite, I think there was three campsites impacted. So yeah, the noise of the fire was crazy as well. I’d never heard noise like it before,” Ms O’Connell said.
“We are in a village, Connect de Resilient, and we’re staying in a hotel. There’s a few other evacuees here too. We’re good. Sure, we’re in France and the food is nice. The sun is still shining. So we’ll make the most of it. I think I was on adrenaline all day yesterday. The noises were very scary, but it was nice to be on the beach and have a route to escape,” Ms O’Connell added.
Across France’s Mediterranean coast yesterday, about 2,000 firefighters were deployed to tackle several wildfires as strong winds and tinder-dry ground, after Europe’s recent heatwave, drove the flames forward.
Local authorities said 1,500 people were evacuated from campsites in the area, while nearby Perpignan airport was forced to shut down.
Earlier in the day, firefighters brought two fires on the outskirts of Marseille, France’s second-largest city, under control, but crews were still battling a larger blaze in the Aude department.
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