Carried this Monday afternoon again by strong swirling winds, the fires have already burned 17,000 hectares of vegetation.
Crushed by a “heat apocalypse”, which turns incandescent in places, the western facade of the country is ravaged by flames. Galloping almost inexorably through the Gironde, the fire, carried this Monday afternoon again by strong swirling winds, continues its erratic course and subjects the firefighters to the worst case scenario.
The latter, who had managed to free Landiras from a burning jaw barely a week ago, suddenly saw the fire branch off and retrace its steps while gaining in intensity. “The axis of progression is not linear and often very changingsays Commander Alexandre Jouassard, spokesman for Civil Security. The situation is so changing that it is necessary to reassess the strategic plan half-day by half-day. If means are engaged on the right flank of a forest fire and if the wind suddenly changes 90 degrees to go due west, for example, our plans are to be reviewed and we must redeploy. Which is not an easy task in view of the armada of men and some 400 vehicles mobilized. While the map of France has turned crimson, the fires have already burned 17,000 hectares of vegetation in Gironde.
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Early in the afternoon, the prefecture announced the“preventive evacuation” of 8,000 people from two districts of La Teste-de-Buch, in the Arcachon basin, while a total of 16,200 holidaymakers have had to pack their bags urgently since last Tuesday. On the other front of the fires, located further east inland, 3,500 people also evacuated their homes at midday in the municipalities of Landiras, Budos and Balizac. Faced with the urgency of the situation, the Minister of the Interior ramped up the system on Sunday evening. Emphasizing “the unfavorable evolution of climatic conditions” et “the unpredictability of fires due to 360 degree winds”, Gérald Darmanin had announced the arrival in reinforcement of 200 additional firefighters, which today brings the device to 1700 firefighters. In addition, eleven “heavy” trucks, each carrying 13,000 liters in their tank, including six from Bouches-du-Rhône, are involved. Finally, three additional aircraft will support the six already on the job, to bring the fleet to nine aircraft, an increase in air resources of 50%. In 24 hours, no fewer than 300 drops were made.
“An environmental disaster”
Coming to meet the firefighters at the operational command post of La Teste-de-Buch, the President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, insisted: “The forest is a major asset. What is happening here is undoubtedly an environmental disaster. It requires that we not only shed tears but that we take behind solutions. Granting that the situation is “tense”Commander Alexandre Jouassard nevertheless recalls that the Civil Security fleet, whose number of Dash-type aircraft has increased from three to seven since 2019, is “one of the largest in Europe”. According to our information, reflection is well advanced on a European scale to set up a new fleet of twelve planes flying under the star-spangled banner.
While the “megafires”, thirty meters high, are wreaking havoc on the Atlantic coast, crossing the roads and villages releasing toxic black smoke, firefighters and rescuers have already planned to organize a return of experience to the end of the summer to draw conclusions from this Dantesque episode. One of the worst that the Gironde has had to know, stunned with heat. These fires, for the time being, have not caused any casualties, but experts fear a tragedy if the cycle is not quickly stopped.