In the south-west of France, firefighters face this Thursday a ” unfavorable situation in their fight against two forest fires which have destroyed 4,200 hectares since Tuesday, including more than 2,000 in La Teste-de-Buch, where some 4,000 people were asked to evacuate at the start of the afternoon.
This “preventive” evacuation of Cazaux, a town in the municipality of La Teste, and its military base (BA 120), concerns 4,000 people “ transported by bus and car to the exhibition center “, where 6,000 campers had already found refuge overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, said the prefecture. “ We are obliged to take these measures, because the fumes arriving in Cazaux are too high. The houses are not currently threatened by the fire. “Wrote the mayor of La Teste on her Facebook account. She specifies that the evacuation concerns the entire town of Cazaux, the BA 120, a supermarket and campsites.
The evacuation order caused traffic jams in Cazaux heading north. The sky has orange tones and ash hangs suspended in the air. Some 2,100 hectares have burned since Tuesday in this forest which adjoins the famous Dune du Pilat, which has been closed to the public.
“Unfavorable situation”
The same area of pines also went up in smoke in the second fire, located near Landiras, about forty kilometers south of Bordeaux. “ At 1 p.m., the situation remains unfavorable ” in the sites, indicated the prefecture, which explained that “ nearly 1,000 firefighters », « 100 means of struggle ” and ” six aircraft were engaged. Winds expected in the afternoon, which can reach 40 km / h, could further complicate the task of firefighters.
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These forest fires, which did not cause any casualties, started at the start of the heat wave episode which has affected France since Monday, mainly in the west and south of the country. The Gironde is kept in heat wave orange vigilance by Météo-France.
According to the prefecture of Gironde, the mercury could rise to 38°C on Thursday in the department, which has also been placed on orange alert “forest fire” since Tuesday (high level / 3 out of 5) “ given the weather conditions “.
(With AFP)