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Arsonist jailed for six years for starting wildfire in south-west France

The 2022 blaze – fanned by a strong tramontane wind – threatened hundreds of homes, interrupted rail traffic, and forced the temporary closure of the A9 motorway, as well as several local roads in the Pyrénées-Orientales département, near the village of Opoul-Périllos. At one point, the fire was just 200m from an explosives depot. A total 540 firefighters were called in to battle the flames, and seven of them were injured. The defendant, unnamed in reports on the websites of fire safety association Feux de Forêts or regional newspaper L'Indépendant admitted starting the devastating blaze, along with two others in Calce and Espira-de-l'Agly during the long summer drought of 2022. As well as a six-year prison term, will also undertake five years of probation. Advertisement A social housing technician living with his mother, he attempted to explain his actions by citing deep unhappiness mixed with a long-standing fascination with fire. 'I had urges, as if a voice was commanding me,' he told investigators, according to reports in L'Indépendant. He said he had been suffering for years from the death of his father, also a former arsonist, and claimed to have started more than 30 fires since his teenage years. The prosecutor described the defendant as a 'pathological arsonist' and expressed concern about the risk of reoffending. The court agreed with this assessment and handed down a sentence including mandatory treatment, community service, and compensation for civilian victims. The mayor of Opoul, Patrick Sarda, testified that the anxiety and trauma the blaze caused that is still fresh in the minds of residents. 'There is a before and after,' he insisted. Earlier this year, students and volunteers took part in a tree-planting exercise to start reforesting the area damaged by the fire. Last August, the commune took delivery of a new rapid response all-terrain firefighting vehicle. READ ALSO How to protect your French property from wildfires The majority of wildfires in France are started by human actions, although accidents and carelessness are more common that deliberate arson. Discarded cigarette butts or unattended barbecues are common causes, but in periods of intense heat or drought even innocuous human actions like parking a car on a grass verge can cause fires to break out on parched land. Sparks or heat from agricultural machinery are also often cited as the cause of a blaze - and fires can spread extremely rapidly when the vegetation is tinder-dry. READ ALSO Do heatwaves cause wildfires in France?