GIRONDE FIRES. Is this the end of the tunnel in Gironde, ten days after the outbreak of two major fires? In La Teste-de-Buch, the fire is fixed and the inhabitants have been able to return to their homes. But in Landiras, the flames continue to destroy the vegetation this Monday, July 25. The latest info.
The essential
- The fires in Gironde no longer follow the same trajectories. This Monday, July 25, 2022, the Landiras fire is still not completely under control by the firefighters who, however, ensure that it is “contained”. On the other hand, at La Teste-de-Buch, the fire is fixed and therefore no longer advances.
- However, the authorities are still cautious, even if the weather looks more favourable, the temperatures being much lower than in recent days.
- In La Teste-de-Buch, all the inhabitants were able to return to their homes.
- Follow the latest news live.
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08:07 – Residents of Landiras and surrounding areas still prevented from returning home
If the inhabitants of La Teste-de-Buch and several surrounding towns were able to return to their homes at the end of the weekend, for those evacuated to Landiras and throughout the sector of the second fire which hit the Gironde, authorization n has still not been given by the prefecture. “The authorities are continuing to study the situation sector by sector,” she said at the end of the day on Sunday.
08:04 – “The situation continues to improve” assures the prefecture
In its latest report published Sunday evening at 9 p.m., the Gironde prefecture announced that “the situation continues to improve on the fire front”, confirming that the fire is well fixed in La Teste-de-Buch and that it is contained in Landiras. The authorities are, however, maintaining increased surveillance in the face of possible outbreaks of fire.
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The fires of Landiras and La Teste-de-Buch, in Gironde, broke out on Tuesday July 12 around 3 p.m. and one hour apart. In La Teste-de-Buch, the start of fire is accidental, said the mayor of the town, Patrick Davet at the microphone of France Blue Gironde, Saturday July 16, 2022. A hypothesis confirmed by several concordant sources. The breakdown of a thermal vehicle, such as a van according to some accounts, is the cause of the fire starting. The vehicle was parked on the low side of runway 214 at the edge of the pine forest, allowing the flames to spread in a few minutes. According to police information reported by South West, the driver is an employee of a campsite who was going to the recycling center when he broke down. Seeing the flames, the driver immediately called the emergency services, but did not have time to use his extinguisher. An investigation is underway for “involuntary destruction by fire of wood, forest, due to a breach of a security obligation” specified the public prosecutor of Bordeaux, Frédérique Porterie, on July 18. The prosecution added that, for the time being, the damaged vehicle is inaccessible, but that as soon as the situation allows it, it will be placed under seal and examined to “establish the causes of the fire”.
In Landiras, the fires would be of criminal origin. The Bordeaux prosecutor said that “the criminal identification technicians were able to make findings which accredit a deliberately malicious act”. The investigation for destruction by fire of wood, 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 fire outbreaks noted the 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. He is suspected to be the cause of some fires, but not the main fire, according to France Blue Gironde. He was finally released and is exonerated on Wednesday July 20.
Unlike the fire at La Teste-de-Buch, that of Landiras, a town in southern Gironde, is not yet fixed. It is only contained according to the press release from the prefecture of Gironde of this Saturday July 23, 2022. At the microphone of franceinfo, the mayor of Landiras, Jean-Marc Pelletant, was even particularly worried about the fires in his sector, this Sunday afternoon: “The fire is far from being controlled, far from being fixed, it is at the limit of the content, but it is still active” in the sector. In addition, according to the first aedile, the “fire resumed” in places.
In all, more than 13,800 hectares were burned around Landiras and the district of Langon according to the prefecture of Gironde. The forest fire extends over a circumference of more than 15 km long and wide. Falling temperatures, falling wind and increasing humidity are more favorable conditions for firefighters, but have not yet allowed the fires to be fixed. Firebreaks have helped slow the fires and continue to be reinforced on several fronts along the 66 km edge of the fire. However, this is not fixed and the risks of resumption are “significant” in particular on the “multiple hot spots inside the fire zone”.
In La Teste-de-Buch, the fire is considered fixed by the Sdis. The prefect of Gironde announced it on Saturday evening July 23. Thus, 7,000 hectares burned near the Arcachon basin. The fire spread to the south of the Dune du Pilat and reached the ocean, notably burning patches of forest on the edge of the Petit Nice and La Lagune beaches. On the loss side, the fire did not cause any casualties, however five campsites in the town of Pyla-sur-Mer were destroyed up to 90%.
Where are the fires that broke out in Gironde and where are they spreading to? First, a first fire is located in the west of the department, in the town of La Teste-de-Buch, near Arcachon, along the Dune du Pilat and the Atlantic Ocean. The fire is heading south, towards Landes and the town of Biscarosse. Further east, the second fire started from Landiras, 45 km south of Bordeaux.
The fires are so vigorous and the smoke has taken on such a dimension that it is possible to observe the phenomenon from the sky and space. The European Copernicus satellite imagery program captured impressive images, where you can very well see the progress of the smoke on the territory of the department, towards the west.
Here is the fire map from the specialized site Forest fires in France, which allows you to view the progress of claims in Gironde, but also in the Landes and other areas of France. This is a map that references the fires reported by a community of Internet users, in real time.
At this stage, the two fires that broke out in Landiras and La Teste-de-Buch (Gironde) have not caused any casualties. No one has been injured or died so far. Only the vegetation burned. These forest fires nevertheless led to the displacement of 36,750 people in the department, including more than 16,000 on July 18 alone.