The forest continues to burn in La Teste-de-Buch, in the Arcachon basin, and in Landiras and Guillos in the south of the Gironde. Monday promises to be a particularly tricky day as the department is on red alert for the heat wave and that temperatures of 44°C are expected in some places. This Monday morning, the prefecture of Gironde has more than 14,000 hectares burned since last Tuesday (10,000 in the Landiras sector, 4,300 in La Teste). In Landiras, the fire extends over 14.5 kilometers in length and nine in width for a circumference of 48 kilometers. The sub-prefect of Langon announces 3,500 additional evacuations in this sector during the day. In La Teste-de-Buch, the fire extends over nine kilometers in length and seven in width for a circumference of 28 kilometers.
“It’s the worst day ever” said Bruno Lafon, president of Defense of forests against fires (DFCI) in Gironde this Monday morning. “Sunday the day was announced to be more or less calm and unfortunately 2000 hectares left in almost an hour and a half in Landiras and the recovery was terrible in La Teste. This Monday, between the temperatures and the winds at 50-60 kilometers per hour, we fear the worst”.
The essential
- More than 14,000 hectares have burned since Tuesday July 12 (10,000 in the Landiras sector, 4,300 in La Teste).
- The very high temperatures expected on Monday, combined with rotating winds, have firefighters fearing the worst.
- About 16,200 people have been evacuated since the start of the fires. In the South-Gironde, 3,500 additional people must be evacuated during the day.
- 1,700 firefighters as well as six Canadair and three Dash planes are mobilized according to the prefecture of Gironde.
- Listen to France Bleu Gironde to follow the evolution of the fires.
- Roads closed to traffic are identified on the prefecture’s website.
The situation in La Teste-de-Buch
According to a report communicated this Monday morning, these are 4,300 hectares which have burned in the La Teste-de-Buch sector since the start of the fire on Tuesday July 12. The mayor of La Teste said earlier this Monday morning that the fire mainly advanced on the side of La Salie beach in the direction of Biscarosse. “The fire remains generally contained on all fronts” indicated the prefecture of Gironde in a point at 10:30 am. The flames had reached the ocean at the end of the day on Sundaythey crossed the road that leads from the Dune du Pilat to Biscarosse and they arrived at La Lagune beach, located between Petit Nice beach and La Salie beach.
Several buildings saved overnight
According to our information, the forest house was saved overnight from Sunday to Monday and the beach restaurants of Petit-Nice, La Lagune and La Salie were also spared the flames. Firewalls must be installed on runway 214, the one that winds through the forest towards the ocean beaches: seven to eight bulldozers have been requisitioned to carry out this project. Our reporter, Pascale Danyel, went up part of this track in the morning with the firefighters. Discover the images of his report:
Smoke on La Teste
The authorities predict that La Teste will be invaded by smoke due to the shifting winds announced during the day on Monday. sensitive people are invited to find refuge far from the fumes. Since the start of the fire, 10,000 people have been evacuated in this very touristy area. Pleasure boating is prohibited on the western part of Lake Cazaux-Sanguinet as well as navigation and mooring on the sector of the southern pass at the entrance to the Arcachon basin.
A strip of sand to stop the flames before Biscarosse
On this La Teste front, the flames rose up to 100 meters in height on Sunday evening. To stop the fire heading south and prevent it from reaching Landes and Biscarosse, teams from the National Forestry Office have been working since Friday to create a wide strip of sand with bulldozers which will deprive the flames of “fuel”. This strip of sand should form a barrier between the ocean and the northern lake of Biscarosse.
The situation in South Gironde
The fire devoured 10,000 hectares of pines in the Landiras and Guillos sector, authorities announced on Monday morning. About 1,000 additional hectares therefore burned overnight from Sunday to Monday, which was difficult with unfavorable weather conditions. The circumference of the fire is estimated at 48 kilometers. “At this time, the situation remains very unfavorable in front of the fire, but is now contained on the other fronts thanks to the actions of fight and the means deployed” indicated the prefecture of Gironde in its point of 10:30 this Monday.
Firefighters had been worried for a few days about the scorching temperatures expected on Monday, combined with a very low humidity level in the air (10% hygrometry) and rotating winds up to 60 km / h. To slow the progression of the fire, they carried out in particular preventive fires this Monday morning. The farmers, on the other hand, have the task of watering the land and the edges.
– Laurent Perpignan Iban / Hans Lucas
New preventive evacuations Monday during the day
A total of 6,200 people have been evacuated in this area since the start of the fires. This Monday, 3,500 additional people must leave their homes in Landiras, Budos and Balizac during the day. These evacuees are housed in two emergency centers in Langon. To carry out evacuations, “we have a technical solution that we are going to experiment with”, explained Vincent Ferrier, the sub-prefect of Langon. “Residents will receive an SMS telling them to evacuate” if they are in a critical point, he indicated at the start of the morning. These SMS arrived at the end of the morning on the telephones of all the people present in Villandraut, including our journalist.
– Anna Bonnemasou-Carrere
Reinforcement for firefighters facing a “very complicated” day
In a press release, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, indicated that, as of Sunday evening, “three additional planes, 200 firefighters and 11 heavy trucks” would be deployed there. Backfires, tactical fires, preventive cutting of trees over dozens of hectares: firefighters and foresters are increasing their maneuvers to try to slow these fires and to save part of the Landes de Gascogne forest. Twelve firefighters have been slightly injured since the start of the fires.
The massifs are a real powder keg – Marc Vermeulen, director of SDIS 33
“We have never experienced two fires of this size in the same department, with, simultaneously, about twenty fire starts each day. Our first objective is to have no casualties, which is the case for the moment, then we carry out our action to avoid the destruction of buildings and finally we continue to limit the fire.” explained this Monday morning the departmental director of the SDIS in Gironde on franceinfo. “The fact of succeeding in fixing this fire goes through work that we are prospecting. It is a question of carrying out clear cuts and clearing the forest (…)”
“In total, 2400 firefighters from the Gironde take turns on the fires and in the barracks and 1400 external firefighters are present as reinforcements” explains Marc Vermeulen. “We are really in a high risk day both because it is extremely hot and because the turning wind will force us to redispatch resources on both fronts. The massifs are a real powder keg. We have fires that explode almost every afternoon and we are forced to return to contact, supported by air resources as we have been doing for several days.
– Thibaud Moritz
Gérald Darmanin was questioned by several elected officials in the region and in particular by Bruno Lafon, mayor of Biganos and president of the DFCI (Defense of forests against fires) in Gironde on the absence of Canadair based at Bordeaux-Mérignac airport for a few years. Bruno Lafon who hammered, live on France Bleu Gironde this Monday morning: “We have changed scale, there are 400,000 people who have arrived in the last 20 years in Gironde and the climatic conditions have changed. We have to change gear and the air resources need to be reviewed”.