In the south-east of France, the summer is already hot and windy. In the Bouches-du-Rhône, a department among the most exposed to forest fires, firefighters are deploying considerable resources. franceinfo attended a demonstration.
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It is from the top of the hills that firefighters track down the outbreaks of fire, in one of the thirty or so watchtowers in Bouches-du-Rhône. The summer promises to be risky in the department for forest fires. So firefighters are tirelessly adapting their techniques. Like here, above the town of Coudoux. “It’s a high point that allows good visibility of any suspicious smoke,” explains Patricia Lahaye, head of the forestry division at the departmental territorial directorate.
In the event of nascent fires, forest patrols can intervene, or firefighters’ tanker trucks prepositioned on the territory, depending on the areas of drought and wind. Then come the heaviest means, trucks that transport no less than 13 tons of water, mixed with a product to strengthen the adhesion of humidity to the plants.
Trucks equipped with protective bubbles to prevent burning and pressurized cabins to prevent fumes from entering. “This allows us to attack very violent fires safely, since we don’t get out of the truck, we fight from inside the vehicle”describes Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Marc Roditis.
There are also air resources, water bomber planes, Canadairs or Dash, and helicopters. “These water bombing helicopters are deployed very early on in the event of any fire, to a first attack, and then give the right information, to bring equipment, personnel, water, continues Jean-Marc Roditis. It is often said that a fire can be put out with a glass of water, so we try to provide a very rapid, effective response as soon as possible.”
And all these techniques are the result of years of experience, assures the director of the Bouches-du-Rhône fire department, Jean-Luc Beccari. “We must constantly perform. The climatic conditions will mean that we will have more and more large fires.” And to continue to call for vigilance.
“Just because it rained a little in the spring doesn’t mean our summer isn’t at risk.”
Jean-Luc Beccar, director of the Bouches-du-Rhône fire departmentto franceinfo
In fact, the population is less cautious, because the drought is not yet visible. “In the city of Marseille, we have fires every day,” notes Vice Admiral Lionel Mathieu, commander of the Marseille marine firefighter battalion. This shows that “the gestures of imprudence are present, laments the firefighter, we light our barbecue without paying attention, we throw away our cigarette…”
The best weapon against fire is to take precautionary measures, firefighters remind us, because nine out of ten fires are of human origin.