(7 Aug 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Near Villerouge la Cremade, France – 7 August 2025
1. Various of active wildfire and smoke with firefighters and fire plane dropping water
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, France – 7 August 2025
2. Various of valley with burnt trees and vineyards and vineyards spared from the fire
3. Pan across burnt trees to burnt vineyard
4. Various of vineyard owner and winemaker examining damage caused by the fire
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Batiste Caval, local winemaker:
“I hope the government will help us. Nowadays the region supports us. We ask to have access to irrigation. To have access to water. Because without water there is no life. Corbiere is a very dry land. Here only vines can grow. But even vines have their limit. They require a bit of irrigation to keep things going. You can see here today. The vineyards are burnt and the landscape is gone."
6. Exterior of Cave Cooperative Celler des Demoiselles wine cooperative
7. Establishing shot of Anael Payrou, director of wine cooperative
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Anael Payrou, Director of Cave Cooperative Celler des Demoiselles:
“This is about climate change here in the south making temperatures rise more and more. And more and more droughts. But it isn’t just that. It’s the rural life in danger. Less and less agriculture. Less and less usable land. More and more problems with water. And that makes the fires more serious every time. We’ve seen that in Greece, in Italy and the United States. All those problems for us farmers.”
9. Wide of Anael talking
STORYLINE:
France’s largest wildfire in decades was contained Thursday after burning more than 160 square kilometers (62 square miles) in the country’s southern wine region and claiming one life, local authorities said.
The blaze erupted Tuesday and tore through the Aude region, spreading rapidly due to hot, dry weather. Cooler overnight temperatures and calmer winds slowed its advance and allowed firefighters to make headway.
Late Thursday, the region’s top government official said the fire was contained. However, residents were warned not to return home without authorization, as many roads remained blocked and dangerous.
The fire swept through 15 communes in the Corbières mountain region, destroying or damaging at least 36 homes, with a full damage assessment still underway. One person died at home, and at least 13 others were injured, including 11 firefighters, according to local authorities. Three people who were reported missing have been found safe.
An investigation is underway to determine what sparked the fire.
The fire was the largest recorded since France’s national fire database was created in 2006.
But France’s minister for ecological transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, called the blaze the worst since 1949 and linked it to climate change.
“It is a fire that is clearly a consequence of climate change and drought in this region,” she told France Info radio.
Despite the breakthrough, officials warned the situation remained fragile.
“We still have a few days before we can say that the fire is completely out,” region administrator Christian Pouget said. “The battle is not over yet.
The region’s economy relies heavily on winemaking and tourism — both hard-hit.
“The vineyards are burnt and the landscape is gone,” said Batiste Caval, a seventh-generation winemaker near Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse.
New vines typically take three years to bear usable fruit. Some can produce wine for decades, even up to half a century.
AP Video shot by German Munoz
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/3d4987575db84bd99bfdfb59c1988284
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in August 12, 2025, 9:05 pm.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
