Add updated figures, quotes from the sub-prefect of Langon and Gérard Larcher
BORDEAUX (awp / afp) – Nearly six days after the start of the fires, the two gigantic forest fires have ravaged nearly 11,000 hectares of vegetation and are still not fixed, according to a latest report from the prefecture published Sunday noon.
A total area gone up in smoke “equivalent to the area of Paris”, according to the engineer specializing in computer data processing, Guillaume Rozier, contacted by AFP.
In the Teste-de-Buch sector, the situation “remains unfavorable”, underlines the prefecture. During the night, the fire again threatened the campsites of the Dune du Pilat “due to numerous outbreaks of fire, supported by strong gusts of wind”.
The latter had to be evacuated from their guards”, she wrote on Twitter. During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, the 6,000 people staying in five campsites in this very touristic area had been evacuated as a precaution. 450 families were then able to resume their business Friday.
Thanks to the mobilization of firefighters, however, the fire has made little progress in this area, going from 3,200 to 3,400 hectares up in smoke. “The night was complicated. The strategy was to save the campsites, which we managed to do”, tells AFP Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Mendousse, who describes “tired teams”. New reinforcements from all over France are expected during the day.
“The forest is a major good. What is happening here is undoubtedly an environmental disaster. It requires that we not only shed tears but that we take behind solutions”, declared to the press the president of the Senate. Gérard Larcher, who came to meet the firefighters at the operational command post of Teste-de-Buch, before going to Landiras.
“the worst weather conditions”
In this sector, further inland, the fire, evolving over a perimeter of “12km by 9km”, has also made little progress, thanks to an “effective strategy” carried out via “the lighting of tactical fires and the creation of firebreaks. fires” (clear cut), adds the spokesperson for the fire department.
Going from 7,000 to 7,200 hectares burned, “the fire was rather well contained last night. The sensitive points were held”, abounds the sub-prefect of Langon, Vincent Ferrier.
In addition, the rear sector of the light is stabilized “thanks to the creation of a strip of white sand over 2km of edge”. The line on the left flank, to the east, is also “in the process of being consolidated” to protect “by anticipation” the facilities of the town, including those belonging to the wine group Les Grands Chais de France (GCF), the first private winemaker in the hexagon.
“We are expecting the worst weather conditions, with Monday afternoon 41-42 degrees and a wind that could also strengthen (…) and push a little more towards the east”, he specifies.
In total, more than 14,000 residents and vacationers have had to pack their bags urgently since Tuesday. Seven emergency accommodation centers and a medico-psychological emergency cell were opened to support the victims.
On both fronts, 1,200 firefighters are mobilized, supported by water bombers (3 Canadair and 2 Dash).
On Thursday, “forest fire” vigilance had gone up a notch in Gironde, turning red (scale 4/5), as in the Landes on Friday.
These fires, which did not cause any casualties, started at the start of the heat wave affecting France where the maximum will remain very high until the beginning of next week, with values between 35°C and 41° C locally in the Southwest, according to Météo-France.
The Gironde is placed in orange “heat wave” vigilance by Météo-France, like 36 other departments.
cal/mpm