Around 20,000 hectares of land have been destroyed by the fires around the Gironde.
A fire around La Teste-de-Buch, near the Dune du Pilat, has burned 6,500 hectares, while another has covered 12,800 hectares in the Landras, south of Bordeaux.
Around 2,000 firefighters from across France are on hand this morning (July 19) to tackle the blaze and more than 16,000 people were evacuated yesterday alone, bringing the total to 37,000 in the week since the blaze broke out.
This morning, news broke of a third fire in Vensac, northwest of Bordeaux. This fire burned 70 hectares of land.
“I will not hide this loss. [of these fires] It will get worse in the coming hours,” Gironde manager Fabine Buccio said yesterday.
“The situation is not very favorable; the fire is moving in different directions,” the region said in an update on the Landras fire.
The 39-year-old Gironde man was taken into custody as part of an investigation into the “destruction of forests, woodlands, heathland or others by fire” in the Landras of Bordeaux. The prosecutor said.
The investigation is currently hearing from witnesses and the cause of the fire is believed to be “criminal”.
A witness told the authorities that “when the fire broke out, a car quickly left the scene” and public prosecutor Frederic Porteri added that “there were other fires in the same area that day.”
The person will not cooperate at this stage. He was previously imprisoned for the same act in 2012, but was later released without charges due to insufficient evidence.
The fire in La Teste-de-Buch was caused by a fire on a forest road that was loaded with a truck. Local officials said the driver tried to call the fire department but was in an area with no phone signal.
When the area is safe, further inspections will be carried out on the truck.
Read more: Wildfires in France: Why is it so hard to contain?
Livestock has been displaced.
The zoo, near La Teste-de-Buch, has released the animals, the region said.
Due to the heat and the thick smoke from the fire, more than a thousand animals were taken from the place.
Veterinarians and zookeepers came from the West of France to care for the animals and ensure they were safe.
Animals most sensitive to the smoke, such as primates, are taken to the Zoo de Pessac near Bordeaux, while others are transferred to other facilities in the region.
Unfortunately, the forest ecosystem and local residents are not the only ones suffering #Fire of #Gironde. All the support to the Arcachon Basin Zoo who made the decision to evacuate the animals due to the smoke from the fire. https://t.co/jbYB6MJrlc
— Beranger Couillard (@BCouillard33) July 18, 2022
Several buildings were destroyed in the La Teste-de-Buch area, including houses, restaurants and campsites.
One of these campsites is Camping des Flots Bleus near Dune du Pilat, a popular spot. Camping Movies have been made bringing to life the character of Patrick Chirac, played by comedian Frank DuBosque.
Six communes in the Landras area were evacuated yesterday as a “precautionary measure”, and three houses and one mobile home were destroyed.
This fire destroyed an area twice the size of Bordeaux. On the Copernicus website you can view satellite images showing the extent of the fire as well as fires across Europe.
Low temperatures but high winds in the coming days
Sébastien Lahaye, a former firefighter and co-ordinator of Europe-wide fire prevention projects, said: “The only way to stop the fire effectively is to have climate change.” French information.
of galerne The wind is currently blowing from the ocean to the Atlantic coast, pushing up the temperature, but it has complicated the work of firefighters, who now find it difficult to predict the movement of the fire.
Read more: Red weather alerts raised across France as heat wave moves east.
There is no rain forecast in the area for the next two weeks, and so the firefighters are starting to ignite “tactical” fires to destroy the vegetation and finally create a firewall to stop the real fire.
To prevent the fire from spreading, 40-meter-wide “corridors” will be cut down. But swinging with burning fuel, that is not enough. We are thinking of 400 or 800 meter wide tracks. pic.twitter.com/9oKt0wEIhv
— Giles Gallinaro (@GallinaroG) July 18, 2022
A fire breaks out in western France
As the Gironde fires continued yesterday, firefighters were called in to tackle more blazes in western France.
In Finstere (Brittany), more than 1,300 hectares have burned in the Monts d’Arre mountains in the commune of Braspartes.
When the department administration informed about the situation last night (July 18, 2007), 591 hectares of land had been burnt.
#Fire#Finistre
Update on current fire – Brasparts sector:
Area burned: 1330 hectares
300 people were evacuated, including 92 people to the Season Sports Hall
195 firefighters and 50 fire trucks on the scene pic.twitter.com/u43wuhmBkf— Finisterre Admin (@Prefet29) July 19, 2022
However, 300 people have since been displaced from Botmere and the villages of T Beron, Roquinarche and Rududerche.
As of 06:00 this morning, 195 firefighters and 50 vehicles, as well as the Canadian Air Force, were on the scene.
A fire truck was destroyed in the flames and was immobilized, but no one was injured.
Another forest fire burned 50 hectares of forest land in Kerente yesterday, but it was brought under control in the evening.
In Tarn, meanwhile, several wildfires caused 124 firefighters.
The government considers public safety training courses
In response to the fires raging across France, the government said it supports training the public to “better understand the risks” and “best practices to follow in difficult situations”.
“The idea [having] One day a year is set aside for this purpose in April: current circumstances are showing its importance and the need to start soon.
This comes after the Fédération Nationale des Sapeurs-Pompiers said that in the face of climate change, the public needs to better know the best course of action during extreme weather events such as fires and floods.
“Nobody knows how it’s going to work in the forest when it’s 40cm,” said Eric Flores, vice president of the federation.
Related articles
The huge wildfires in south-western France are still spreading, and the situation is getting worse
French TV predicted a warmer climate for 2050…but we are already there
