“The weather forecast is pessimistic, the firefighters are tired, we all have broken faces” : this is how the situation summed up, Thursday July 14 in the morning, the mayor of Teste-de-Buch, Patrick Davet, at the microphone of France Bleu Gironde.
>> Follow our live on the fires in Gironde
Twenty-four hours later, three days after the start of the two fires in Gironde, one at the foot of the Dune du Pilat, the other in Landiras in the south of the department, the fires are still not fixed and the conditions have not really evolved. In all, nearly 7,650 hectares of forest burned in two days, or 1.5 times the area of the city of Bordeaux. Franceinfo takes stock.
In La Teste-de-Buch, seven houses affected and a fire progressing south
In detail, at Teste-de-Buch, the latest report from the Gironde prefecture reports 3,150 hectares reduced to ashes. More worrying, the fire continues to progress towards the south of the department. The fire has reached Lake Cazaux and is advancing “in the direction of the houses along the road leading to the lake”said the prefecture on the morning of July 15.
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Seven buildings, including three houses and two restaurants, were devoured by the flames. “All that’s left is a wall and blackened chairs”describes the reporter from France Bleu Gironde on the spot. For a firefighter he met in Cazaux, it’s “the fire of the century”.
The restaurant La petite playa in #Cazaux and three houses were destroyed by the flames but this morning the village and the port are saved #fires pic.twitter.com/Byqd4Mx5Q9
— Gilles Gallinaro (@GallinaroG) July 15, 2022
In Landiras, the worst fire in Gironde for 20 years
In Landiras, 4,500 hectares burned, making this fire the worst the Gironde has seen in 20 years. It is also, according to the database of forest fires in France, the second most devastating fire in 20 years, after that in the Var in 2021.
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More than 11,000 people evacuated
More than 11,000 people were evacuated due to the two fires. In detail, in Landiras, 1,300 people are affected. The evacuations also continued last night: 480 inhabitants in the municipalities of Louchats, Origne and Balizac were asked to leave their homes.
It is near the Dune du Pilat that the evacuations are the most impressive. 10,000 people have been evacuated since Tuesday. Thursday, July 14 afternoon, the authorities emptied the town of Cazaux and its 4,000 inhabitants. A hundred of them were able to be welcomed at the Teste-de-Buch exhibition center, where a reception system was already in place. “There is a tremendous solidarity that has been put in place”explains Friday July 15 on franceinfo Jean-Luc Gleyze, president of the Departmental Council of Gironde, who salutes the involvement of the municipalities and that of the “citizens who open their doors to others to try to rehouse them”.
The weather makes the work of firefighters particularly difficult
The drought and the wind that does not fall make the work of the 1,000 firefighters mobilized particularly complicated, constantly feeding the flames. In addition to the Gironde firefighters, firefighters from all over France fought these two fires on the ground, supported by soldiers and air resources: three Canadairs and a Dash plane.
Faced with the risk of a new fire in view of the weather conditions, the prefecture of Gironde has decided to classify the department in red vigilance for the risk of forest fires on Thursday July 14. Red vigilance (4th level on a scale of 5), is active from this Thursday and “until further notice”said the prefecture in a press release.
Consequently, new restrictions are put in place in the heavily wooded municipalities of the department. Traffic and parking are now prohibited between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. on forest tracks, rural roads or even trails. Similarly, logging activities and recreational and sporting activities are prohibited on the same schedules, with the exception of those carried out in the leisure center and on the perimeter of the equipped beaches. “You really have to take extreme precautionswarns the president of the departmental council Jean-Luc Gleyze on franceinfo. We are in a heat wave. The forest is particularly fragile and vulnerable.”