“Above all, it is necessary that a third fire in the department does not break out“, alert Saturday July 16 on franceinfo Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Agrinier, of the National Federation of Firefighters of France. More than 10,000 hectares of forest have gone up in smoke since Tuesday, in the fires of Teste-de-Buch and Landiras, in Gironde. Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Agrinier of the National Federation of Firefighters of France calls for “maintain the national strategy: massive attack of incipient fires”, because there are “fire starts every day in all the departments of the south of France“.
>> Fires in Gironde: follow the evolution of the situation live
franceinfo: How do you think you can get to the end of these two fires?
Lieutenant Colonel Eric Agrinier : Despite the colossal deployment of all the forces from all over France, and most certainly because of the exceptional weather conditions at the moment, these fires continue their disastrous work, even if it seems that on the La Teste site, it is beginning to be the beginning of a favorable outcome which seems to be taking shape. But of course you have to be very careful. We must tirelessly pursue what is done and done well. It is important to remember that the human toll is zero victims. And the goods have been almost all preserved. Only a few homes were impacted or destroyed by the fire. But given the scale of the disaster, this means that the strategic choices and the fight that is being waged are bearing fruit in relation to the priorities which have been the preservation of people and property from the start.
Is it exceptional to have so many firefighters mobilized?
I will go beyond. Admittedly, there are 1,200 firefighters in Gironde engaged on these two sites which are colossal. But besides that, it is especially necessary that a third fire in the department does not declare itself. That is to say that we must maintain the national strategy: massive attack of incipient fires. This means that you still have to keep troops available to be able to put out a potential new fire that will occur. There are fire starts every day in all departments of southern France.
“Not only must the two ongoing fires be fought with force. But the rest of the Mediterranean coast must be preserved by keeping forces available”.
Lieutenant Colonel Eric Agrinierfranceinfo
This mobilization in all the departments of the South, with the colleagues from the departments of the North who come as reinforcements with regular relief, with a replacement of the forces which are directly in combat, it is an organization, a shadow logistics which does not is not seen. And I can tell you that it is extremely consistent. This is exceptional.
Do you fear a particularly complicated summer?
We must not forget that it is only July 16 and that the summer will still continue with these summer temperatures, and therefore an extremely high risk of forest fires. The risk of forest fires is spreading to other departments which were not faced with this risk before. This means that the effects of global warming are indeed there, they are indisputable, and they generate a risk elsewhere, in Brittany, for example, and sometimes in the Parisian suburbs. We have to prepare for it and it will have to get into people’s minds.