The conclusions of the “flash mission” after the mega-fires of this summer were made public this Thursday at the congress of the departments of France. This feedback was led by two men: Jean-Luc Gleyze, the president of the Gironde and André Accary, the president of the departmental council of Saône-et-Loire. They multiplied the interviews. This report will also be distributed to members of the government, deputies and senators in the coming days.
First of all, the so-called “incipient fire” doctrine was confirmed. That is to say, intervene as quickly as possible on the fire in the first 10-15 minutes. For this, the report indicates that this “doctrine is antithetical to a centralized system” with only decisions coming from above and not from men in the field.
Taking into account local opinions in the qualification of the risk
The question of means, in particular air, is of course evoked at length in the conclusions of this “flash mission”. In particular, the subject of the annual parking of aircraft. We must go further than simply creating a second base for Canadairs. Today, a zonal distribution of air assets in France is imperative. That is to say a real network of the territory with four or five places all over France so that the planes do not all pay attention to the same base in Nîmes.
The two authors of the “flash mission” also ask that local opinions be taken into account now in the qualification of the risk. The objective is to be even fairer and more preventive. To be able, for example, to request the dispatch of additional air resources on D-3 or D-4 and no longer just on D-1 where sometimes there is a lack of responsiveness in the decision-making chain. Above all, we need better coordination.
Remote surveillance and drones
More generally, for the means, the report speaks of several thousand euros to invest. He also recommends reviewing the development of forests because all the massifs are not the same. The issue of volunteer firefighters and their provision by their employer is back on the table. Finally, we will have to rely on new technologies: “We must develop remote camera surveillance because it is obviously an element that facilitates the identification of fires, including at night. Today, there is no human presence at night in the pylons”, explains Jean-Luc Gleyze.