Corbières Region in Southern France, Residents Are Still Fighting to Save

The fire, which started near Ribaute in the Aude department on August 5, 2025, burned 11,000 hectares across 16 communes, destroyed 36 homes, and killed a 65-year-old woman who refused to leave her house. It took firefighters five days to control the blaze and 23 days to declare it extinguished, making it the worst fire in the French Mediterranean region in at least 50 years, according to government data. Xavier de Volontat, 74, the mayor of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse and a winemaker, recalls the terror of watching a "huge mushroom" of fire race toward his town within minutes. Residents now pin their hopes on a major recovery plan presented Wednesday by the prefecture, though de Volontat warns that it won't grow back with a wave of a magic wand.