GIRONDE FIRES. Since the resumption of fires in Gironde, Tuesday August 9, 7,400 hectares of forest have burned. Friday, August 12 in the morning, 1,100 firefighters are still mobilized, while European aid arrives as reinforcements.
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- Less than three weeks after the first fires, new fires broke out in Gironde on the evening of August 9. Friday, August 12 in the morning, the latest situation update from the Gironde prefecture, reports 7,400 hectares of forest burned, while 1,100 firefighters are still mobilized.
- In three days of resumption of fires, 10,000 people who were evacuated, including 2,000 in the Landes department. The municipalities of Hostens, Belin-Béliet, Saint-Magne are among the most affected in Gironde, while the municipalities of Mano, Moustey and Saugnac-et-Muret in the Landes have also been evacuated.
- Thursday August 11, the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, and the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, went to Hostens, in Gironde. The Prime Minister assured, while she met the firefighters and the mayors of the affected municipalities: “We have never mobilized so many resources and we are going to strengthen them.”
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11:05 – What means are used against the fire in Gironde?
During its update, Friday August 12, 2022, the prefecture of Gironde indicates that 1,100 firefighters are engaged against fires in Gironde. They are helped by European reinforcements. Thus, have already arrived on Friday:
- 65 personnel and 24 vehicles from Germany
- 77 personnel and 14 vehicles from Romania
- 2 Canadair and 22 personnel from Greece
They will be joined during the day by:
- 146 personnel and 49 vehicles from Poland
- 73 personnel and 14 vehicles from Austria
- 2 Canadair with 14 personnel from Italy
10:50 am – Friday morning update on the fires in Gironde
On Friday August 12 in the morning, the Gironde prefecture announced, in a communicated, that during the night from Thursday to Friday, the fire had not “marked any significant progression”. In total, 7,400 hectares of forest have been burned since Tuesday August 9 and 1,100 firefighters are still mobilized on site. The climatic conditions of this Friday, with high temperatures and low hydrometry, “raise fears of a day with a very severe risk of fire outbreak”, specifies the prefecture.
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The causes of these new fire starts in Gironde in the sector west of Landiras are not yet known, but the criminal trail is being considered, said Elisabeth Borne, Thursday August 11. Questioned on Wednesday, Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, had already mentioned a criminal track. “We have strong suspicions that the fire which is restarting is the work of arsonists. This morning, there were eight fires, between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., which started a few hundred meters apart in Gironde, so that’s totally unusual,” he said. This scenario was feared by firefighters, who note that the ground is dry and has retained its heat since mid-July. “When we dug the ground, we found temperatures of 150 degrees. We knew that in the peat, everything could come back”, testified the mayor of Biganos Bruno Lafon at the microphone of BFM TV.
In July, the fires in Landiras and La Teste-de-Buch, in Gironde, broke out on Tuesday July 12 around 3 p.m. and one hour apart, with different causes, accidental in La Teste- de-Buch with a breakdown and a fire of a vehicle and criminal in Landiras. The Bordeaux prosecutor had indicated that “the criminal identification technicians were able to make findings which accredit a deliberately malicious act”. The investigation for destruction by fire of wood, of forest which could cause damage to people was entrusted to the Langon Research Brigade which questioned itself on the possible links between the fire and other outbreaks of fire noted on same day. A track that no element confirms for the moment, but according to the prosecution, “clues remain to be exploited in order to eliminate or retain the thesis of the same author”. Monday July 18, a man was taken into custody and questioned. Suspected to be the cause of some fires, but not the main fire, according to France Blue Girondehe had finally been released and is exonerated, Wednesday, July 20.
Fixed at the end of July, the fire in Landiras (Gironde) started again a few kilometers away, during the day of Tuesday August 9 before gaining in intensity in the evening. More than 1,000 hectares of pines burned in a few hours, 5,000 hectares according to the assessment made Wednesday August 10 in the morning, 6,000 hectares Wednesday evening, 6,800 hectares according to the assessment of Thursday morning, 7,400 hectares finally according to the point of Friday August 12 in the morning. The fire is progressing with new starts in the sectors of Belin-Béliet, Hostens and Saint-Magne, but also in Cabanac-et-Villagrains where it could be fixed. While some hearths have been fixed, others are resisting and the persistence of strong heat and wind makes the work of the firefighters difficult.