A heavy air, laden with the smell of smoke. A capital that is gradually being invaded by a light wave of mist, as during the worst episodes of pollution. In the early evening, an astonishing phenomenon was observed by many Ile-de-France residents.
“It smells of wood fire. Fires. In Paris. And there is a weird mist, ”describes a resident of Paris on Twitter. “I went to hang up my laundry, same feeling. And according to the smell and the “mist”, something is burning in the corner”, says Johcta on the same network. “Excuse me, is there a fire in Paris there? Because in 92 it smells like burnt to death and there is a thick white mist in the distance, I don’t understand,” Lisa also wonders.
A feeling that has grown so much that the Paris police headquarters had to post a message on social networks to reassure the population. “You may smell a burning smell outside. This smell certainly comes from the ongoing fires that are raging in France. The reason ? The versatility of the wind. Don’t block the emergency lines. Only call the fire department if there is a fire,” she asks.
Contacted by Le Parisien, the Paris fire brigade (BSPP) acknowledges having “received a number of calls from Ile-de-France residents looking for information”. But the firefighters want to be reassuring and think they have found the origin of this phenomenon.
Vegetation fires suspected to be the cause
“This feeling could be caused by the vegetation fires which are in progress in the Yvelines, in particular in Rochefort-en-Yvelines, points out an officer on duty, recalling that a wind from the south, south-west, could quite match. We have fires in almost all the departments surrounding Île-de-France ”.
A hypothesis confirmed by the scientific opinion of Airparif experts. “We are seeing an increase in particles linked to fires, to combustion. We have a rise in air mass, ”confirms on BFMTV, Pierre Pernot, engineer at Airparif.
According to the meteorologist and weatherman of the continuous news channel, these fumes could even come, in part, from the giant fires which have been ravaging the Gironde for a week. “As crazy as it may seem, the smoke from the Gironde fires reached Paris this Tuesday evening and brings a foggy atmosphere! Models of fine particles show the rise of this corridor of smoke, ”he tweets, map in support.
However, it seems too early to state categorically that the smoke from the braziers of Gironde has reached the capital. “We cannot say what is the contribution of this or that phenomenon to this observation of this Monday evening. We will have to wait for our analyzes on Tuesday, ”specifies, still on set, the Airparif expert. The stormy showers and the wind expected in the Parisian night should, in any case, quickly dissipate this feeling.