Four days after the start of the fires, Gironde firefighters continue to fight “titanic”, “pine by pine”to try to fix two indomitable fires, which ravaged more than 10,000 hectares of forest and prompted more than 14,000 people to evacuate, in a context of generalized heat wave expected all weekend in France.
In the municipalities of Landiras and Guillos, in the south-east of the Gironde, the situation was still « critique » Saturday night, with “more than 7,000 hectares” gone up in smoke, reported the prefecture.
Because of “changing winds, which make the fire progress on different fronts”order was given at the beginning of the afternoon, Saturday, to proceed with the evacuation of the “town of Tuzan, the hamlet of Villagrain, in the town of Cabanac-et-Villagrain and, in the town of Hostens, the town and the nautical base”. In this sector, “1,900 people” evacuated the area “including 93 minors”.
More than 14,000 residents and vacationers had to pack their bags urgently. Seven emergency accommodation centers and a medico-psychological emergency cell were opened to support the victims.
On the other front, at La Teste-de-Buch, the efforts made have made it possible in recent hours to slow the progression of the fire, without however fixing it. “This evening, we are at 3,200 hectares burned against 3,150 this morning in La Teste-de-Buch, the perimeter is almost constant, but the fire is absolutely not under control”declared in the evening to the press the sub-prefect of Arcachon, Ronan Léaustic. “We have resumptions almost everywhere on the whole perimeter, because of the wind. We save the terrain pin by pin. »
In the afternoon, an operation secured by the police, allowing the inhabitants of Cazaux to “recover and feed their animals”started before being interrupted due to“a resumption of fire that has been stabilized”. She was then able to resume.
Furthermore, a new strategy consisting in lighting “tactical lights” and the “creation of firewalls” (clear cuts) was put in place thanks to the use of bulldozers and the joint work of the departmental fire and rescue service (SDIS), the National Forestry Office (ONF), the Gironde Defense Federation forest against fires (DFCI) and forestry work companies.
“We are working on the flanks to fix them. It is vigilance at all times, day and night, there is no stopping “insisted the communication officer of SDIS 33, Laurent Dellac. “We have almost 30 kilometers of edge, so it’s a titanic job”explained earlier his colleague, Lieutenant-Colonel Olivier Chavatte. “We have been fighting two outsized fires for almost a week”, explained the head of SDIS 33, Marc Vermeulen, on Saturday. In twenty-four hours, the SDIS “had to deal with 22 departures of forest fires in the Gironde department”had noted a little earlier the prefecture.
Other outbreaks of fire have, in fact, been reported in recent hours on the side of the beaches of La Lagune and Petit-Nice, south of the Dune du Pilat. The day before, some 450 families had been able to recover their personal effects in the five campsites evacuated from this same sector.
A total of 1,200 firefighters were mobilized on Saturday on all fronts. Since Tuesday, “four firefighters were slightly injured, a truck overturned and another burned”, according to a latest report. Five water bomber planes (three Canadair and two Dash planes) perform non-stop rotations.
In addition, fallout from the smoke from the fire at La Teste blackened the beaches of the Etang de Cazaux and Sanguinet.
Thursday, vigilance ” Forest fires “ had gone up a notch in Gironde, turning red (scale 4/5), as in the neighboring department of Landes since Friday morning.
These fires, which did not cause any casualties, were triggered at the start of the heat wave which has affected France since Monday, mainly in the West and the South, where the maximum will remain very high until the start of the week. next, with values between 35°C and 40°C, according to Météo-France. The Gironde is placed in orange vigilance “heatwave” by Météo-France, like 37 other departments.