can we determine how much of the forest fires are of human origin?

Faced with the multiplication of fires since the beginning of the summer, we often hear politicians affirm that the fires are mainly of human origin, without further details, or with variable estimates. 80% of fire starts are of human origin “said Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne in July. On Twitter, the Minister of Ecology indicates: “I would like to remind you that 95% of fires are of human origin. Collectively, let’s take the right steps and show vigilance to protect our natural heritage.”

For many years, the causes of fires were little known, recalls the guide of the delegation for the protection of the Mediterranean forest devoted to the search for the causes of fires. On average and until 1996, only 30% of the origins of fires were the subject of information in the PROMETHEE statistical database. Increasingly, and especially since the heat wave of 2003, this search for causes is documented, based on the work ofmultidisciplinary teams, as reminded by the judicial pole of the national gendarmerie.

To identify the causes of a forest fire, the investigators are helped by foresters, firefighters and scientists. Together they identify the cause of the accident. To do this, they observe the outbreaks of fire, scan the ground, collect testimonies, identify any smells of hydrocarbons or gas, smells of decomposition, rubber or plastic. This work aims to locate the origin of a fire, determine its cause and explain how it spread.

It is on the basis of all the data compiled year after year that we come to estimate that on average nine out of ten fires in France are of human origin. A Senate report, made public on August 3, states that “Unlike North America, where four out of ten fires are of natural origin (lightning impacts on the humus), the anthropogenic factor is preponderant in Europe in the outbreak of fires: in France, 9 fires out of 10 are man-made, and 7 out of 10 to human recklessness “.

The causes can be linked to economic activity (construction sites, agricultural activities, dilation of electric cables) or to everyday activities (cigarette butts, barbecues and campfires, vehicle or garbage can fires), as well as details the Ministry of Ecology.

If there are already prevention actions and awareness campaigns, the recent Senate report entitled “Forest and vegetation fires: preventing conflagration” recommends ” greatly strengthen the resources allocated to communication “, up to what is done for example for road safety. He advises to do it in several languages ​​in order to also reach tourists and to do it also outside the summer period.

It could for example be interesting, write the senators, to show ” vsconcretely in what consists a clearing in the standards. It should be done in the presence of elected officials, who must be made aware and trained, including in areas that are currently little exposed, and who could then relay these good practices “.

The report also suggests making individuals aware of the consequences of throwing cigarette butts, for example at motorway service areas, setting up awareness-raising at school, generalizing the training of young people from the Universal National Service in order to raise awareness among walkers in forest and help monitor the massifs. Lastly, it recommends making the penalties clearer and more dissuasive and extending the smoking ban to all forests particularly exposed to the risk of fires.


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