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WILDFIRES

Provence on maximum alert for forest fires

A dangerous combination of a lack of rain and the Mistral wind has put Provence on maximum alert for forest fires.

Published: 24 July 2017 10:17 CEST
Provence on maximum alert for forest fires
Photo: AFP
The Var department in the southern French region of Provence has been placed at an unprecedented level of threat of forest fires, local authorities have warned.
 
The southern department has been placed on alert due to an “exceptional risk of forest fire” and the neighbouring Bouches-du-Rhône department is also at “very high risk”. 
 
The threat comes as a result of the famous Mistral wind expected to affect the area from Monday until Thursday which could drive flames across the large areas of parkland in the region.
 
This, combined with the dry scrub land after a lack of rain, has led to a very likely threat of forest fires in the region. 
In response to the threat posed by the winds which could reach up to 90km/h, authorities have banned access to the nine national parks in the Var and the 24 in the Bouches-du-Rhône where firefighters are on stand by and ready to jump into action if fires break out.
 
And Provence isn't the only region at risk with authorities in northern Corsica also announcing the closure of its forests due to the threat posed by strong winds expected on Monday, as well as evacuating a particularly vulnerable urban area. 
In the Alps-de-Haute Provence department, “the level of danger from forest fires was raised to 'very high' in two of its six weather zones”, local authorities said on Sunday, adding that people are discouraged from using the area. 
 
This isn't the first time this summer that forest fires have made the headlines with The Local reporting last week the story of a wild fire that ravaged 800 hectares of land near the southern French university city of Aix-en-Provence which was likely caused by a tossed cigarette butt. 
 
More than 800 firefighters and 210 fire engines were drafted in to tackle the wild fire that led to roads and popular walking areas being closed off to the public.

WILDFIRES

France gets help from EU neighbours as wildfires rage

Firefighting teams and equipment from six EU nations started to arrive in France on Thursday to help battle a spate of wildfires, including a fierce blaze in the parched southwest that has forced thousands to evacuate.

Published: 12 August 2022 08:48 CEST
France gets help from EU neighbours as wildfires rage

Most of the country is sweltering under a summer heatwave compounded by a record drought – conditions most experts say will occur more often as a result of rapid climate change.

“We must continue, more than ever, our fight against climate disruption and … adapt to this climate disruption,” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said after arriving at a fire command post in the village of Hostens, south of Bordeaux.

The European Commission said four firefighting planes would be sent to France from Greece and Sweden, as well as teams from Austria, Germany, Poland and Romania.

“Our partners are coming to France’s aid against the fires. Thank you to them. European solidarity is at work!” President Emmanuel Macron tweeted.

“Across the country over 10,000 firefighters and security forces are mobilised against the flames… These soldiers of fire are our heroes,” he said.

In total, 361 foreign firefighters were  dispatched to assist their 1,100 French colleagues deployed in the worst-hit part of the French southwest.

A first contingent of 65 German firefighters, followed by their 24 vehicles, arrived Thursday afternoon and were to go into action at dawn Friday, officials said.

Among eight major fires currently raging, the biggest is the Landiras fire in the southwest Gironde department, whose forests and beaches draw huge tourist crowds each summer.

It had already burned 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres) in July – the driest month seen in France since 1961 – before being contained, but it continued to smoulder in the region’s tinder-dry pine forests and peat-rich soil.

Since flaring up again Tuesday, which officials suspect may have been caused by arson, it has burned 7,400 hectares, destroyed or damaged 17 homes, and forced 10,000 people to quit their homes, said Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Mendousse of the Gironde fire and rescue service.

Borne said nine firefighting planes are already dumping water on the blaze, with two more to be in service by the weekend.

“Gigantic”
“We battled all night to stop the fire from spreading, notably to defend the village of Belin-Beliet,” Mendousse told journalists in Hostens.

On several houses nearby, people hung out white sheets saying: “Thank you for saving our homes” and other messages of support for the weary fire battalions.

“You’d think we’re in California, it’s gigantic… And they’re used to forest fires here but we’re being overwhelmed on all sides — nobody could have expected this,” Remy Lahlay, a firefighter deployed near Hostens in the Landes de Gascogne natural park, told AFP.

With temperatures in the region hitting nearly 40C on Thursday and forecast to stay high until at least Sunday, “there is a very serious risk of new outbreaks” for the Landiras fire, the prefecture of the Gironde department said.

Acrid smoke has spread across much of the southwestern Atlantic coast and its beaches that draw huge crowds of tourists each summer, with the regional ARS health agency “strongly” urging people to wear protective face masks.

The smoke also forced the closing of the A63 motorway, a major artery toward Spain, between Bordeaux and Bayonne.

The government has urged employers to allow leaves of absence for volunteer firefighters to help fight the fires.

Meanwhile, in Portugal, more than 1,500 firefighters were also battling a fire that has raged for days in the mountainous Serra da Estrela natural park in the centre of the country.

It has already burned 10,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

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