A French detachment of firefighters and civil security rescuers, leaving from Marseille, is expected Thursday evening in Quebec. They come to reinforce the Canadian forces which have been fighting for days against gigantic forest fires.
Article written by
Posted
Reading time : 2 min.
/2023/06/08/6481d5c3950da_partanss.jpg)
This detachment consists of a total of 109 women and men. In the hall of Marignane airport, Thursday morning, the faces are already concentrated. Because the next few days promise to be intense: in the province of Quebec, which has become the epicenter of the fires, the French contingent will be responsible for “breaking” the advance of the flames, in particular by provoking tactical backfires. “We make fires ourselves to direct the fireexplains Bruno Ulliac, general controller of firefighters, to force it to go one way when you can’t control it. It is a particular technique, which we also use in France when the weather conditions are favorable and there are no risks on the ground for the population and for our firefighters.
Also planned: forestry operations, treatment of edges. The tricolor firefighters will share their know-how. “With all the humility one needs to have in these big fires, we go there with our expertise, bring everything we can to our Canadian colleagues”underlines François Pradon, head of the civil security staff.
/2023/06/08/6481d64bd9bc3_davou.jpg)
“We will join the Americans, the Australians, the South Africans and the New Zealanders, who are already there. The Spaniards and the Portuguese will follow suit, so we will have a real world defense on these fires.”
François Pradon, Chief of the Civil Security Staffat franceinfo
In this contingent, rescuers and professional firefighters but also volunteers like Romain, based in a small barracks in Hérault, near Béziers. This is his first mission abroad. “I am a self-employed winegrower. So, fortunately, I have family and friends who are there to manage the operation and help me get through these three weeks of absence. My job means that I have a special relationship with the land, so it’s important for me to go and fight these fires.”
“We can clearly see what happened last year in Gironde, and that forests are threatened all over the planet. There is a whole ecosystem to protect, we must try to save our forests!”
Romain, volunteer firefighterat franceinfo
The return of this detachment is also planned before the end of the month, to be ready to fight the summer fires in France.
French firefighters against forest fires in Canada: report by Hugo Charpentier
listen