Seven months after the gigantic fires that affected the department, the fire is still spreading in this town south of Bordeaux. The presence of an old lignite mine prevents this underground combustion from being extinguished.
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It is almost an invisible fire which is advancing very slowly near Lake Bousquet in Hostens, not far from Landiras (Gironde) at the beginning of February. “We see the smoke rising from the earth”, describes Mayor Jean Louis Dartiailh. The fires that affected this town south of Bordeaux this summer, like a large part of the department, spread to an old lignite mine whose operation was stopped before the Second World War. Since then, this bad coal has been smoldering.
“The Underside is Always on Fire”
The fire started about a meter deep. Jean Louis Dartiailh prohibited access to the perimeter by municipal decree. “Firstly because there are trees falling and there are always some because the root system is burned, justifies the mayor. On the other hand, because of this layer of lignite which is a huge potential danger since the ground gives way once the lignite has burned. There is a vacuum and the terrace collapses. And so if you fall in it, you get burned. There, today, the danger is still just as real.”
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The temperature in the basement is 300 to 400 degrees according to the county council which monitors the area with drones. The rains this winter were not enough to stop the combustion explains Jean Louis Dartiailh: “If there is not a sufficiently massive rain, the water evaporates immediately. The first layer of lignite will start to die out. But since there is the bottom which is still on fire, it continues. “
A tourist issue
If nothing changes by March, the mayor proposes to flood the site with water from the lake. The challenge is to avoid new starts of fires and to be able to reopen this walking area. But Jean Luc Gleyze the president of the departmental council, who owns the land, is not convinced: “It’s a bit like scooping up the ocean with a teaspoon because you can always try to drown the fire in some places and there’s no guarantee that it won’t resurface elsewhere. The combustion will continue to spread from another way and on other sectors.”
According to the mayor of Hostens, 300 square meters have already been consumed. It is a very small part of the lignite seam which is 200 meters long and 50 meters wide.
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