GIRONDE FIRES. A gigantic fire broke out again in Gironde in the Landiras sector, already ravaged by flames in July.
The essential
- Fixed on July 25, the fire of Landiras in Gironde started again Tuesday August 9 in the evening.
- The firefighters announced on Wednesday August 10 in the morning that 6000 hectares had already burned, including at least 200 in the neighboring department of Landes.
- The temperatures, the dry ground and the wind lead the firefighters to judge the situation “very, very unfavorable”, especially in the Hostens sector.
- About fifteen houses were destroyed in the locality of Belin-Beliet and nearly 6,000 people were evacuated in a few hours.
Live
09:15 – Which sector is affected this Wednesday?
These fire starts concern sectors close to those affected in July, which makes the authorities say that it could be fire starts linked to fixed but not yet controlled fires in Landiras. These recoveries were observed near the municipalities of Saint-Magne and Hostens on Tuesday, barely 20 kilometers from the epicenter of the Landiras fire declared in July.
09:13 – Faced with the wind and the heat, the difficult fight of the firefighters this Wednesday
Firefighters expect a difficult day on the fire front in Gironde where the thermometer could reach 40 degrees in places and where gusts of wind up to 40 km / h are expected.
09:10 – Speed limit on the A63
Due to the proximity of the fire which is raging in the Hostens sector, the speed has been lowered to 90 km/h and traffic has been limited to two lanes instead of three on an area of the A63 motorway linking Bordeaux to Bayonne.
09:06 – Towards a cut in the A63 motorway? The very violent fire in the Hostens sector
The fire reported in the Cabanac sector would be “fixed” according to the authorities, but it is the outbreak reported in Hostens that worries the most this Wednesday morning. While it has already spread to the neighboring department of Landes, the fire is heading towards the A63 motorway which connects Bayonne to Bordeaux. A shutdown of the highway could be announced depending on the evolution of the situation.
09:04 – 6000 hectares burned, the latest report
According to an updated report established by the prefecture of Gironde on Wednesday morning, 6,000 hectares burned in a few hours. As a reminder, the July fires caused the loss of 13,000 hectares of forest.
09:03 – The impressive video of the firefighters taken at night
“Return from hell”, it is with these few words that the firefighters of France communicated on the return of the fires in Gironde, publishing a video taken this night in the heart of the blaze.
08:58 – 5000 hectares have already burned, the point this Wednesday morning
It was the fear of the authorities and firefighters for several days. Fixed on July 25, the fire declared in Landiras in Gironde has started again. Several fire starts were reported on Tuesday and the situation worsened on Tuesday evening. This Wednesday morning, the report shows more than 5,000 hectares burned in the south of the Gironde. 16 homes were affected by the flames in the locality of Belin-Beliet. The fires reached the neighboring department of Landes where 200 hectares burned. This Wednesday promises to be a delicate day for the firefighters, faced with a violent fire and swirling winds.
Learn more
The causes of these new fire outbreaks in Gironde in the Landiras sector are not yet known. For several days, however, it was the disaster scenario feared by firefighters, that of a resumption of fires on dry, ravaged ground and in a peat environment which has retained the 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 of 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 the departure of fire 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, 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. 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 during the day of Tuesday August 9 before gaining in intensity in the evening. More than 1000 hectares of pines burned in a few hours, 5000 hectares according to the assessment made Wednesday August 10 in the morning. The fire is progressing with new starts in the sectors of Belin-Beliet, Hostens and Saint-Magne but also in Cabanac-et-Villagrains.