A brazier made from straw bales. Drawing. – Jean-Luc Petit- Sipa
- To fight against the historic frost episode, tree growers in Tarn set fire to tons of straw bales mixed with diesel fuel.
- 21 inhabitants of the Lavaur sector were poisoned and required medical treatment.
- Antifreeze fires are authorized, but not when they cause the combustion of toxic products.
By fighting too hard against frost, we run the risk of setting the countryside on fire. Since Tuesday morning, the testimonials inhabitants of the Agout valley in the Tarn are multiplying on social networks. In Ambres, Giroussens or
Lavaur, they woke up surrounded by thick black smoke. The effect of straw bales mixed with fuel and ignited in neighboring orchards in an attempt to reverse the effects of a new night of frost on fruit trees. Some 150 tons of straw were set on fire by the arborists, diffusing a thick fog in a perimeter of about five kilometers.
The phenomenon has sometimes made circulation difficult. The departmental road between Ambres and Lavaur was cut by the gendarmes and could not be returned to traffic until mid-morning.
Evacuated by firefighters or going directly to the emergency room
More seriously, the release of smoke caused a series of intoxications. According to a report from the Tarn prefecture, communicated on Tuesday evening, “eight people were taken care of by the firefighters and thirteen people presented themselves to the emergency room for intoxication problems”.
The mayor of Lavaur Bernard Carayon (LR) stepped up to the plate during the day. “What happened last night at Domaine de Fontorbes and at the Coopérative des Deux Vallées is absolutely unbearable. It can’t happen again, he wrote in a post on the city’s Facebook page. While waiting for an alternative solution to be found, there are some, I asked the COO to immediately provide me with technical and financial solutions allowing the use of the water sprinkler method ”.
For its part, the prefecture claims to have “reminded the operator of the instructions regarding the burning of green waste” and to have “made contact with agricultural organizations to recall good practices”. It emphasizes that open-air fireplaces to fight against frost are indeed regulatory but that they “cannot be powered by fuels likely to cause opaque fumes or toxic combustion products”.