A change in the direction of the wind and slightly cooler weather helped the fire brigades in the fight against the flames, but the risk of new forest fires increases again when the heat comes again. In one week, more forests were charred than in the whole of France last year.
LANDIRAS The view on the side of the road in southwestern France is boring: dozens of kilometers of charred terrain and uprooted trees. There are regular and irregular fire trucks along the road to put out nearby smoldering fires in the terrain.
There are colonies in the peat at a depth of twenty centimeters, and often only a small wisp of smoke appears on the surface. In some cases, the place suddenly bursts into flames again.
So far, the fires in two different places have destroyed 20,800 hectares of forest, but there are few active fire areas left. Already the other day, the spread of the flames was brought under control. The cooler air and mild wind helped the approximately 2,000 firefighters who are staying in the area’s schools and now-vacant resorts.
36,750 residents and tourists have had to be evacuated from the path of the fires.
– Now that the fires have calmed down, we can already think about how to get such a large number of people back systematically, said Langon’s local manager Vincent Ferrier on Thursday morning.
Ferrier thinks that a large number will be able to return to their homes tomorrow, but some will have to wait perhaps another week.
The Langon fire has been the larger of the two areas of destruction. There, the fire area is about 66 kilometers long and 13,800 hectares in size.
Another fire in the coastal town of Teste-de-Buch has destroyed 7,000 hectares of forest, but there is more population. Five campsites have been destroyed.
Many kinds of help from the air
Firefighters advance along forest roads in groups of two fire engines, putting out smoldering places.
One of the firemen is Laurent Cassierwho guides his younger colleagues to locate the most important points.
– If there is already a lot of burnt terrain around, you should not pay attention to the hot spot. It turns itself off. Instead, the fueling points that are closer to the unburned terrain have to be swum, explains Cassier.
– However, we use as little water as possible, because it is difficult to get it here in the middle of the forest.
Farmers with their tractors and tank trailers help. Tankers had also arrived from the nearby Sauternes wine region.
Active fires were extinguished by airplanes and helicopters. There are eight planes there, and starting Thursday, the Air Force’s Reaper drone also filmed the terrain above them. It is a large unmanned aircraft made for military use, which now observed fire stations instead of enemy soldiers.
The number of Canadair fire engines has decreased in recent years as they begin to age. When the president Emmanuel Macron visited the fire scene yesterday, he promised to order new machines. However, they are of no help in this crisis.
The forest planted by Napoleon
The large forest area of the Landes near Bordeaux covers not only the land between the city and the Atlantic, but also stretches far to the south.
It is the largest artificial forest in Europe. Its area is about one million hectares.
Read more about the fires and heat wave raging in Europe this week here
Originally, the estuary of the Garonne river flowing through Bordeaux has been flat and deserted due to the influence of the water flowing from the Pyrenees. The small forests that were there began to be expanded in the 19th century, especially when Napoleon III ordered in the summer of 1857 to plant manty trees in this “desert”.
Now the roads from Bordeaux towards the Atlantic cut through seemingly huge pine forests, which are ecologically very questionable. The forest, consisting almost entirely of pines, grows to be suitable for felling in about 40 years, but is very poor in species diversity and fire-sensitive.
In addition to the fires, the forest is periodically felled by storms, which, when attacking the land from the sea, cause the forest to collapse like a game of dominoes over large areas. The locals still remember the storm that raged in 2009, which felled 26 percent of the forest. Lumberjacks also arrived from Finland to clear the damage.
No injuries
The fires have not caused any injuries, but one firefighter has been injured. There has clearly been an investment in the safety and well-being of firefighters.
– The fire marshals have succeeded well in directing us to the right areas, and we have not been in danger, says the person involved in the first big fire Remy Puget.
Puget says that the firefighters go about their work quite a lot as if on autopilot, and the adrenaline gets to the head only later.
– The most important thing is still to keep in mind the training and the safety lessons we have received.
– Local residents and merchants have brought us a lot of food and drink, thanks a senior colleague Lionel Poodle.
However, Pudel is a local himself, and has therefore been able to live in his home. However, many firefighters are on a gig, which for some has already lasted a week. Now confirmation has been received from elsewhere in France and Switzerland, among others.