Solene Delinger
modified to
09:07, August 16, 2022
Stéphane Le Foll was the guest of Europe 1 this Tuesday morning. At the microphone of Lionel Gougelot, the PS mayor of Le Mans spoke about the fires that have ravaged French forests in recent weeks. Faced with the effects of global warming, which are increasingly felt, Stéphane Le Foll believes that it will be necessary to put “each department in a position to act”.
The summer of 2022 was marked by fires in Gironde, Ardèche, Isère and Brittany. By mid-August, 62,000 hectares had already burned. In 2003, 73,000 hectares had gone up in smoke, while the record of 88,000 hectares was reached in 1976. Invited to the microphone of Europe 1 this Tuesday morning, Stéphane Le Foll estimated that it was necessary to have “a global reflection” and mobilize “exceptional means” to fight against the effects of global warming.
“Predictable” and “prepositioned” means
“Tens of thousands of hectares have gone up in smoke. So we are faced with this situation. We must have a reflection on the pre-positioning of a certain number of devices”, assures the PS mayor of Le Mans at the microphone of Lionel Gougelot. According to him, an exceptional effort in terms of human and material resources is necessary. “In terms of material means of course, canadairs, planes and helicopters, that’s for sure. But what you have to keep in mind is the action on the ground and the speed of the action. That will obviously require predictable, pre-positioned means. Teams in each department will now have to be put in place to be able to intervene quickly”, explains Stéphane Le Foll.
Organize in a “solidarity” way
The mayor of Le Mans wanted to salute “all the work of the firefighters, whether professional, voluntary” and also all those who “also participated in the action against fires everywhere in France: farmers, volunteers, local authorities” . “This is an important point. We need to organize ourselves in a mutualized way and in a united way to be effective all together”, he concludes.