After a record drought in 2022, the risk of fires in winter is increasing. Firefighters have had to intervene in recent days on several forest fires. A phenomenon that firefighters and local elected officials are preparing to get used to.
Ardèche, Pyrénées-Orientales, Gironde… After a drought, heat waves and monster fires in 2022, many departments have already been the scene of wildfires at the start of 2023. This is the case for example in Mouriès, near Avignon. “Saturday morning, at 5:35 a.m., I received a call saying that the massif was on fire. In less than 40 minutes, the whole thing was in flames”recount Christian Bonnet, chairman of the town’s fire committee.
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Nearly 300 firefighters were mobilized but 130 hectares were devastated. A fire at the beginning of February, Christian Bonnet had rarely seen that. “Small accidental fires, yes, overflowing burnouts… But a big fire in this period, no. And unfortunately, I think it’s going to take some getting used to”he resigns himself. The investigation must determine the causes of the fire, but the drought greatly weakens the massif. “The vegetation is not recovering from this summer’s heat wave, so it is practically as dry as during the months of July and August”, points out Christian Bonnet.
Last year, the first fires broke out in March
Same scenario a little further north, in Charente-Maritime, where an accidental fire destroyed four hectares of brushwood. “It happens a little earlier. Last year, the first spring fires broke out in March”reports theCommander Lionel Paquet, head of the territorial grouping of the sector with the department’s firefighters. “Some water fell this winter, but not enough to moisten the vegetation properly.”
With global warming, these vegetation fires are likely to multiply in winter, predicts Anthony Colin, researcher specializing in fires at the University of Lorraine. “Of course, there is the part associated with drought. There are also insects, which ravage entire forests of fir trees. All this is still globally linked to global warming. The elected representatives of the territories concerned therefore call for people to remain vigilant in the forest, even in winter.