before dreaded thunderstorms, the fire is “held but not fixed”

A little hope, and a few fears for the next few hours. The fire in Hostens (Gironde), near Landiras, is “held but not fixed”said Saturday August 13 the prefect of the department, Fabienne Buccio, during a press briefing at the end of the afternoon.

For two days, the flames, which have ravaged 7,400 hectares of pines on the border between the Gironde and the Landes, have not progressed. But the night’s weather worries the authorities. “We have a weather problem: the storms that are announced to us are dry storms. Without rain but with lightning that will fall to the groundspecifies the prefect. I prefer to be honest: the night could well be difficult”.

The first thunderstorms are announced around 9 p.m. by the meteorological services. Wind gusts could reach up to 60 km/h in the evening.

In France, three times more hectares burned than the annual average for the past ten years, and the year has been a record in the European Union since records began in 2006. In a context of global warming, the historic drought that knows the European continent increases the risk of forest fires.