The intervention device deployed on the spot, reduced Saturday evening to 350 men, remains unchanged for the moment.
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Now is the time for cautious optimism. The night was very calm on the site of the fire which has ravaged 650 hectares since Thursday in the Cévennes, in the north of Gard. The firefighters continue Sunday, July 10 the treatment of the edges to avoid any resumption of the fire.
“The night was very calm. The fire on Bordezac is on the way to being settled very well. But on such a large fire, it is still too early to say that there will be no more resumptions, hot spots”, explained Commander Bernard Scotto, in charge of communication for the Gard firefighters. The intervention device deployed on the spot, reduced Saturday evening to 350 men, remains unchanged for the moment.
However, the weather remains “severe risk” in the sector, with a wind between 40 and 50 km/h and a temperature exceeding 30°C. “We therefore remain very vigilant”he insisted.
“Our priority is to treat the entire circumference of the fire meter by meter, on the edge between what has burned and what has not burned, this is where we can have fire starts”explained Bernard Scotto.
“It is also feared that in the middle of the 650 hectares burned, there are still unburned groves which ignite and produce sparks which reach the green zone. They must therefore also be treated quickly”, added the officer. To do this, the firefighters have a water bomber helicopter on site to operate “surgical strikes” on all the resumptions of fire which could occur. In the event of an emergency, national air assets would be called in as reinforcements.
Leaving the hamlet of Bordezac around 5 p.m. Thursday, this disaster mobilized up to 950 men, but caused no casualties.