The fire in the Alpilles massif (Bouches-du-Rhône) “no longer evolving” but is not yet completely fixed, said Tuesday, August 23, the firefighters. The latter have, moreover, reassessed the area covered by the fire at 117 hectares of vegetation, against 136 hectares announced the previous evening.
Tonight, “the objectives of flooding and securing the edges have been achieved”they added in a status report.
???? tracking [#Opérations]
???? The #fire is changing little. 136 hectares covered. Means on site tonight for #drowning… https://t.co/aFiSJWU1qW
On Tuesday, the massif will however remain closed in the face of the risk of forest fires (red vigilance), and 250 firefighters will remain mobilized to “Securing edges and dealing with hot spots” of this fire which did not threaten any dwelling. They will be supported by three aerial means to reach a steep relief.
#Forestfires | This Tuesday, August 23 ⤵️ ????4⃣ massifs: Montagnette, Rougadou, Alpilles, Chambremont are closed???? ????Les 2⃣… https://t.co/4Znk51uFM8
— Prefect13 (@Prefect of the PACA region and Bouches-du-Rhône)
At the height of the disaster, which began Monday afternoon, 600 firefighters had been deployed to quickly tackle the fire which broke out on the tip of the massif, at the level of the town of Aureille, for a unknown reason.
In addition to the fires in Gironde, several fires also affected the south-east of France this summer, affected by a historic drought, with in particular 1,600 hectares going up in smoke south of Avignon in mid-July. At the end of June, 1,800 hectares of vegetation had also burned in the French army training camp in Canjuers (Var).
A “flash mission” to raise the needs of firefighters
Monday, the Assembly of the departments of France announced to deploy a field mission in the areas affected this summer by the fires to bring up the needs of the firefighters and to develop emergency proposals relating to their financing.
This « mission flash » should be carried out by the “Mi-septembre” with various departmental fire and rescue services (SDIS), these firefighter centers managed and financed in part by the departments.
“The aim is in particular, based on discussions with local elected officials and relief actors, to think about new avenues for financing the SDIS and to promote the recruitment of volunteer firefighters”said François Sauvadet, president of the Assembly of the departments of France in a press release.
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, spoke on Sunday of a necessary increase in the real share of the special tax on insurance agreements (TSCA) paid to the SDIS by the departments, a recurring request from elected officials and firefighters.
“Only 40 to 60% of the product of this tax actually goes to them today. I therefore ask the question to the departmental elected officials, of which I am a member: perhaps a larger part of it should already be donated to the SDIS ”argued the minister in an interview with Sunday newspaper.