“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 7,850 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. The priority of the firefighters is above all to avoid the progression of the fire, in particular towards the Landes, located about six kilometers south of La Teste-de-Buch and Cazaux.
Friday, on franceinfo TV at 5:30 p.m., the prefect of Gironde Fabienne Buccio said that the authorities note “an improvement, but beware, as I speak to you, the fire is not yet fixed. We hope to announce it this evening [vendredi] or tomorrow morning but for the moment it is not fixed, even if it is no longer progressing or only slowly.
/2022/07/15/phpuILKKY.png)
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. A catamaran that remained at the quay and a few cabins were also destroyed. 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 total, 100 homes were saved by firefighters, according to the franceinfo reporter on site. “Imagine you’re in a ball of fire, in tunnels of fire, the selflessness of the guys that night was totalestimates on franceinfo the commander Laurent Dellac, in charge of the communication of the firefighters of Gironde.
“We could have had the worst case scenario. We have the scenario, we can’t say the best, but at least the least worst we could have had.”
Laurent Dellac, in charge of communication for the Gironde firefightersat franceinfo
“Preventive evacuation was essentialcontinues the commander. There is a little loss and a lot of saved. The port has been preserved, the shops, all that has been preserved. “
In Landiras, the worst fire in Gironde for 20 years
In Landiras, 4,700 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. The criminal track is privileged, learned France Bleu Gironde from the Bordeaux prosecutor’s office .
“It’s a complicated firelaments Fabienne Buccio, we put all the airborne means we have on Landiras in order to stop this progression. There is a sparse housing area, so all night from Thursday to Friday, firefighters fought to protect homes. We deplore a burnt house. [La situation] going to continue until at least tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, the time we manage to fix the fire.”
/2022/07/15/phpbCFUaX.png)
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”.
Their return home is not yet mentioned. “For the moment, we don’t talk about it at all.explains the mayor of the village Patrick Davet. There is no date, there is nothing. We can’t if you want to do some pretty much and tell them ‘Come back’ and then get them out again 24 hours or 48 hours later. They will come back when everything is safe, not before.”
The weather makes the work of firefighters particularly difficult
The situation is totally unpredictable, with very unstable weather conditions. 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: seven Canadairs and two Dash planes. Friday on the ground, the fire and rescue services can count on “three Canadair and two Dash”, mobilized on the fire of Landiras, as well as on important means firefighters on the ground, according to the prefect.
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.”