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Firefighters have been fighting the flames in Gironde for several days on Saturday July 16. They use several techniques, including tactical fires, which consists of burning specific areas to stop the progression of the main fires.
In Landiras (Gironde), the fire continues to progress, Saturday July 16, despite the efforts of the firefighters. Civil security helicopters and Canadairs follow one another, continuing to pour liters of water and retardant products. However, due to the smoke, it is impossible to cover certain areas. On the ground, a group of firefighters progresses, flamethrowers in hand. As they pass, the vegetation is set on fire. They seek to form a barrier of fire, to prevent the fire from progressing.
For miles, they light braziers in order to eliminate what could feed the giant fire which strikes the region. “Certainly we burn wood, but it is to save thousands of hectares of others“, confides a firefighter. Here, already 7,000 hectares of forest have gone up in smoke. The operation is risky, but necessary given the scale of the fire. It is then necessary to control the new fire, triggers voluntarily. A truck follows the first team, and contains the flames.The prescribed burning technique is one of the central strategies of firefighters.