“We have indicators that are not good and that let us predict a difficult summer”, explains Colonel Jérôme Bonnafoux, spokesperson for the Hérault firefighters this Sunday on France Info. Summer has not officially started but, already, 459 fire starts have been recorded since the beginning of the year 2022.
This Friday, nearly 80 hectares of forest burned in the Aude, at Ornaisons, west of Narbonne. In the Alpes-Maritimes another fire ravaged 12 hectares, in Spéracèdes, before being fixed by the firefighters this Saturday at the end of the afternoon. “What we can observe from the Mediterranean coast and well beyond is that we are ahead in terms of drought compared to other years, which means that we have indicators that are not not good and which let us predict a difficult summer”comments Colonel Bonnafoux.
“In firefighting we have what is called the rule of three 30s: that is to say that when we have a humidity level in the air below 30%, a temperature above 30 degrees and a wind greater than 30 km/h, we know we are going to have fires”continues the Hérault firefighter.
“We have 15 fire starts per day in the Hérault department” — Colonel Jérôme Bonnafoux, spokesperson for the Hérault fire department
And to respond to emergencies, firefighters have to deal with the difficulties of hospitals in France, which makes their interventions more complicated to manage. “The closure of emergencies gives us more work since it takes to transport victims further to hospitals. “he observes.
From the weekend, this Friday, the firefighters of Hérault warned of the risk of fire starting in wooded areas, in particular because of strong gusts of wind at more than 70 km / h, summer temperatures and the drought.