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Thursday, August 4 in the evening, the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence again faces flames. The fires have resumed in Niozelles and Rougon, and they continue to progress. Since the beginning of the year, no less than 47,286 hectares of vegetation have already gone up in smoke. It is four times the city of Paris.
Never had France known a summer with so many fires. In fifteen years, the burned areas have quadrupled. In 2022, there were 47,286 hectares of burned areas. It’s a record. With global warming, fires will be more frequent in the future. It is the whole of France which is now threatened. France has 3,400 tank trucks. According to firefighters, it would take twice as much.
“All of these vehicles are extremely concentrated in the south of France, so that means that we must have an ambitious policy of being able to lighten and facilitate the equipment of certain barracks in the north of France which, they must make sure they can fight these fires, a new phenomenon”, explains Éric Brocardi, spokesman for the firefighters of France. In a report, the senators also call on the State to invest more in material resources and better management of the forest. Finally, according to firefighters, 50,000 volunteer firefighters are needed in addition to the existing 200,000.