Police at the gendarmerie of Bayonne have been charged with investigating the fires, with initial suspicions pointing to unsupervised burning off around the Ibardin and Ascain areas, which are poorly maintained with prescribed burning to control blazes.
The fire, thought to have begun in the Bera en Navarre area, was brought under control but still burning by 8:30pm Saturday evening.
Nearly 5,000 households were left without electricity in the areas of Espelette, Hasparren and Mauléon, according to the national electricity provider, with personnel still working on Sunday morning to restore power.
Beaucoup de fumée aperçue ici depuis Erromardie à Saint-Jean-de-Luz de l'incendie en cours tout autour du col d'Ibardin pic.twitter.com/DWZlKksB1O
— France Bleu Pays Basque (@Bleu_Basque) February 20, 2021
'Myriad of small fires'
An estimate of how much forest was destroyed was not immediately possible due to the extent of smoke covering the area.
Unseasonal winter temperatures of around 20°C and gusts of topping 100km/h fuelling the fires.
A Bayonne official told France Bleu radio there were initially two outbreaks, the first which crossed the border from Spain. The second came in the Ascain area, with winds fanning the two fires into "a myriad of small fires".
The Pyrénées-Atlantiques police prefecture has banned all burning off across the department until Monday. The agricultural practice in the mountainous area is often the source of fires.
🇪🇸|🇫🇷 Plusieurs foyers d'incendie sont en cours à la frontière basque franco-espagnole
— Alexandre (@alex_le_bars) February 20, 2021
🔥 Un feu qui s'est déclaré à #Bera en Navarre se propage dans le col d'Ibardin, attisé par des températures très douces et un vent violent
(📹 via @NoticiasNavarra)pic.twitter.com/TsBvB7Xn4l
