Fire is the fear of every farmer when, in the middle of harvest, the land is dry and the temperatures rise. Tuesday, the hottest day of the week in the Eure, 124 hectares went up in smoke. That same day in Seine Maritime, firefighters identified 18 fire starts and 60 hectares were traversed by the flames.
The causes are multiple, explains Sylvain, a farmer in Fauville en Caux: “It could be a pebble rubbing against scrap iron, it could be a broken bearing that heats up…” Until now, Sylvain has never had to deal with a fire starting in a field but, as a precaution, he had a tank installed in front of his tractor. And the system is easy to use : “We engage a hydraulic lever in the tractor, we go down, we unroll the hose and we water.”
For 15 days, I have had a lot of requests in the south of France.
The pipe is 20 meters long, the lance is equipped with two jets – one for attacking and another, straight, for penetrating the fire – and with the 600 liter water tank our farmer has 15 minutes before him to extinguish the fire. It was Guillaume Adam who developed this cistern three years ago. His company, Gam Agri Parts, a specialist in agricultural wear parts, is based in Hermanville, in the Pays de Caux. In Seine-Maritime, he currently has only one customer, a dealer in Yvetot, but he has more requests elsewhere in France: “I have customers in Lower Normandy, that’s where I sell the most vats, but also in Vienne, in the Landes and for the past 15 days I have had a lot of requests in the south.”
For Sylvain, the farmer, insurance should contribute to the purchase of this tank, which costs 3,790 euros excluding tax. Guillaume Adam has a partnership with GAN at the national level but other insurances only offer coverage up to 40 euros. Firefighters welcome this system. 15 minutes is enough, according to them, to put out a fire starting in a field. This is why Guillaume Adam baptized his tank MD15 : “It’s in reference to the film Taxi. There was the MD10 which was less than 10 minutes and now it’s less than 15 minutes!”