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While the fire in La Teste-de-Buch is considered by the authorities to be “fixed”, that of Landiras, deemed “contained”, continues to mobilize the firefighters. In this city in the south of the Gironde, thousands of inhabitants are still deprived of their homes.
The situation continues to improve on the front of the two major forest fires that have been hitting the Gironde for almost two weeks. But the one who consumed 13,800 hectares in Landiras, in the south of the department, is still not fixed, the prefecture said on Sunday July 24. It will take days, if not weeks, for this fire to be considered completely extinguished.
“Temperatures above 35°C (Sunday) caused the appearance of fumaroles and fire outbreaks in the burnt area which were treated by the 1,200 firefighters and air resources still mobilized on the ground”, or two Canadairs and two forest fire attack helicopters, explained the prefecture in a press release.
“These phenomena should decrease (Monday) with the announced drop in temperatures,” she added.
The resumptions of fire were caused by “heat, wind and the drop in hygrometry” (humidity), specified the firefighters of Gironde.
Thousands of people locked out of their homes
These two fires which broke out on July 12 in the afternoon, one in the forest of La Teste-de-Buch, in the Bassin d’Arcachon, and the other in Landiras, 40 kilometers to the south of Bordeaux, burned nearly 21,000 hectares of forest, about twice the area of Paris intra muros.
They caused no casualties but forced more than 36,000 people to leave their homes. The vast majority of these displaced people have been able to return home in recent days, but a few thousand people evacuated from the Landiras sector have not yet been able to do so.
“No new authorization could be granted (Sunday) to allow the evacuees to return to their homes. The authorities continue to study the situation sector by sector”, assured the prefecture.
Since Saturday, the fire in La Teste-de-Buch has been considered by the authorities to be “fixed”, unlike that of Landiras which remains “contained”. In La Teste, the tourist site of the Dune du Pilat is still inaccessible, according to the prefecture.
The prefect of Gironde Fabienne Buccio must bring together elected officials and economic actors from the two disaster areas on Monday to “prepare for the end of the crisis on the economic level”.
With AFP