Will Monday be the hottest day? The map of France has turned crimson over a large part of the Atlantic coast, with 15 departments on heatwave red vigilance, including Gironde, where the fire returned to intensity on Sunday evening.
No one is safe anymore: the peak of this 45th heat wave recorded in France since 1947 is expected on the western facade, especially in Brittany so far protected by ocean entrances. The proliferation of these extreme weather events is a direct consequence of global warming according to scientists, with greenhouse gas emissions increasing in intensity, duration and frequency.
The intense heat is fanning the fires, which have multiplied in recent days, from the forests of Gironde to the fields of farmers, who sometimes work at night to prevent a spark from the blades of the harvester from igniting their harvest.
The fire has reached the sea
Sunday evening, the blaze which devoured 13,000 hectares of vegetation in Gironde in six days regained ground thanks to swirling winds, leading to new evacuations in the Landiras sector. According to firefighters, a total of 16,200 holidaymakers have had to pack their bags urgently since Tuesday.
At Teste-de-Buch, “the fire arrived at the sea” and was heading south, according to the prefecture. On amateur videos, you could see the huge blaze devouring the beach of the Lagoon, south of the Dune du Pilat. “However, the fire should not reach the Landes department because the wind should turn towards the west and the north”, according to Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Mendousse.
The Ministry of the Interior announced reinforcements with, as of Sunday evening, “three additional planes” to support the six bombers already engaged, as well as “200 additional firefighters (…) with 11 heavy trucks”. Hell is not over on the west facade, which will be hit on Monday at midday by the heatwave peak.