The situation is being monitored very closely. The storms, expected this Sunday, can be a double-edged sword on the front of the many fires currently affecting France. If precipitation can help firefighters in their task, lightning strikes may cause new outbreaks of fire. Not to mention that gusts of wind can start fires again, while many are contained.
Fire contained in Gironde and Landes
In Gironde and in the Landes, the resumption of fire of “Landiras-2”, as the firefighters call it, has not progressed for more than 72 hours. The forces are now concentrating on the risks of resumption of fire linked to “dry storms”.
According to the prefecture, the assessment is therefore maintained at 7,400 ha of burned forest. In addition, nine houses and eight outbuildings were destroyed in the flames.
Many personnel remain mobilized on this fire. At the end of the day on Saturday, nearly 150 Polish firefighters went to the site. This is the last reinforcement column of 361 European firefighters – after the arrival of German, Romanian, Italian, Greek and Austrian firefighters – to come to the aid of France for this “outstanding” fire.
A thousand additional evacuations in Aveyron
While, this Saturday at midday, the fire which has affected Aveyron and Lozère since Monday seemed “in the process of being circumscribed and soon extinguished”, it “evolved unfavorably”. According to the prefecture of Aveyron, “an additional 500 ha have burned”, adding to the 750 ha already affected. In a press release published this Sunday morning, it specifies that the fire “continues to spread to the east (towards the department of Lozère) but also to the south”.
This progression led to the evacuation of seven hamlets, that is “nearly 1,000 additional people”. Reinforcements are expected in the morning from the fire department.
“Worried” firefighters in the Jura
In the Jura, the fire resumed this Saturday in the middle of the day in the Vescles and Cernon sector, when it had been declared fixed the same morning. An additional 150 ha were reduced to ashes, bringing the total land burned to 650 ha in this area. Nearly 300 firefighters are on the scene as well as aerial extinguishers.
Firefighters feared on Saturday that the spread would get out of control because the fire resumed in a ridge area, difficult to access “with trees that are 15 to 20 m high, dead wood in very, very large quantities and a fir forest that is located a little further north”, detailed in particular the Deputy Departmental Director of Sdis 39 with France 3.
In addition, on Saturday afternoon, another fire broke out in the Montlainsia sector, a little further west of Cernon. It had already burned 80 ha at 8 p.m. and presented a high risk of spreading, according to a press release from the prefecture.
The fire still not fixed in the Drôme
In the Drôme, the forest and vegetation fire which broke out on August 5 is “still not fixed”, said the prefecture. If the progression is rather slow, several times are still to be reported. The burned area now reaches 378 ha and many resources are deployed, including nearly 300 firefighters and several air resources, reports France Bleu.
France is not the only country plagued by flames this summer. More than 660,000 ha have burned since January in the European Union, which represents a record at this stage of the year since satellite data began in 2006.